UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA 
AT   LOS  ANGELES 


MAP  SHOWING  LOCATIONS  ( 
TO  ILLUSTRATE  THE  INDIAN  TRIBES  OF  THE  UPPER  1 


rHE  LEADING  INDIAN  TRIBES. 

SISSIPPI  VALLEY  AND  REGION  OF  THE  GREAT  LAKES. 


THE  INDIAN  TRIBES  OF  THE 
UPPER  MISSISSIPPI  VALLEY  AND 
REGION  OF  THE  GREAT  LAKES 

as  described  by  Nicolas  Perrot,  French  comman- 
dant in  the  Northwest;   Bacqueville  de  la  Poth- 
erie,   French  royal  commissioner  to  Canada; 
Morrell  Marston,  American  army  officer; 
and  Thomas  Forsyth,  United  States 
agent  at  Fort  Armstrong 

Translated,  edited,  annotated,  and  with  bibliography 
and  index  by 

EMMA  HELEN  BLAIR 
With  portraits,  map,  facsimiles^  and  views 

VOLUME  I 


CLEVELAND,    OHIO 

THE    ARTHUR    H.    CLARK    COMPANY 

1911 


90058 


COPYRIGHT, 


EMMA  HELEN  BLAIR 


V- 


TO 

FREDERICK  JACKSON  TURNER 

who  long  has  led  the  van  of  research  in  the  history  of  the  great  Middle 

West,  and  has  done  most  to  make  known  its  importance  in  the 

development  of  the  American  nation,  this  contribution  to  its 

n 

early  history  is  dedicated  by  one  of  his  former  students. 


CONTENTS  OF  VOLUME  I 

PREFACE  .......       13 

MEMOIR  ON  THE  MANNERS,  CUSTOMS,  AND  RELIGION  OF  THE 
SAVAGES  OF  NORTH  AMERICA;  BY  NICHOLAS  PERROT: 

Preface  to  the  original  French  edition            .             .  .25 

I  Beliefs  regarding  the  creation  of  the  world.    .  31 

II  Beliefs  regarding  the  creation  of  man             .  .       37 

III  Commencement  of  wars  among  the  savages    .  .41 

IV  First  wars  of  the  Irroquois  .             .             .  .42 

V  Superstition  of   the  savage   tribes       .             .  .47 

VI  Continuation  of  the  superstitions  of  the  savages  .       59 

VII  Marriage  among  the  savages             .             .  .64 

VIII  Of  funerals  and  obsequies     .             .             .  .78 

IX  Belief  regarding  immortality             .             .  .89 

X  Games  and  amusements  of  the  savages            .  .       93 
v      XI         Food  and  hunting  of  the  savages        .             .  .102 

*t      XII  Moral  traits  of  the  savages    .             .             .             .132 

XIII  Continuation  of  the  war  between  the  Algonkins  and 

J  Irroquois    ......     146 

^       XIV  Defeat  and  flight  of  the  Hurons        .             .             .     148 

XV  Flight  of  the  Hurons  and  Outaoiias  .  .             .     157 

XVI  War  of  the  Algonkins  against  the  Irroquois  .  .     190 

XVII  Murders  committed  against  the  Irroquois      .  .     204 

XVIII  Terror  of  Outaoiias  at  sight  of  the  Irroquois  .     210 

XIX  Sedition  stirred  up  by  the  Outaoiias  .  .              .214 
V      XX  Arrival  of  the  Intendant  Monsieur  de  Talon  .             .     220 

XXI  The  Irroquois  carry  hostilities  among  the  Andastes 

and  Chaoiianons    .....  226 

XXII  War  undertaken  against  the  Irroquois  .  .  232 

XXIII  Campaign  against  the  Irroquois         .  .  .  243 

XXIV  Huron  treachery  against  the  Outaoiia  tribes  .  .  252 

XXV  Another  piece  of  Huron  treachery    .  .  .  256 

XXVI  Treachery  of  the  Outaoiias  toward  the  French          .  258 


10 


CONTENTS  OF  VOLUME  I 


XX VI I  Of  the  insolence  and  vainglory  of  the  savages          .     263 

XXVIII  Harangue  for  the  Outaoiia  Tribes  .  .     268 
HISTORY  OF  THE  SAVAGE  PEOPLES  WHO  ARE  ALLIES  OF  NEW 

FRANCE;   BY   CLAUDE   CHARLES    LE    ROY,    SIEUR   DE 
BACQUEVILLE  DE  LA  POTHERIE        ....     275 


MAP  SHOWING  THE  LOCATION  OF  THE  LEADING  INDIAN  TRIBES 

REFERRED  TO  IN  THIS  WORK  .  .  .  Frontispiece 

AUTOGRAPH  LETTER  OF  PERROT  .  .  .  -33 

RAPIDS  OF  ST.  MARY'S  RIVER  .  .  .  .  .     in 

CALUMET  SONG           .            .  .  .  .  .183 

JURISDICTION  OF  MONTREAL  .  .  .  -215 

PIPE  AND  TOMAHAWK  DANCE  (Ojibwa)  .  .  .     235 

SITE  OF  PERROT'S  FORT,  1685-1686  ....     247 

VlEW  OF  MlCHILIMACKINAC     .....      285 

WINNEBAGO  WIGWAMS  .....    297 


PREFACE 

Among  the  subjects  of  perennial  interest,  not  only  to 
historical  students  but  to  the  general  reading  public,  are 
the  customs,  character,  and  beliefs  of  the  North  Amer- 
ican Indians,  and  their  relations  with  the  white  peoples 
who  have  possessed  themselves  of  the  vast  territories 
once  occupied  by  those  aborigines.  The  present  work 
is  devoted  to  these  subjects,  its  text  presenting  old  French 
and  American  memoirs  by  writers  who,  having  spent 
many  years  among  the  Indians,  were  most  competent 
and  reliable  as  authority  on  aboriginal  life.  The 
Memoire  of  Nicolas  Perrot  (written  probably  during 
1680  .o  1718,  but  not  published  until  1864),  and  La 
Potherie's  Histoire  de  I'Amerlque  septentrionale  (first 
published  in  1716),  have  long  been  known  to  historical 
writers,  and  often  cited  by  them;  but  these  works  are 
largely  unknown  to  the  reading  public,  as  they  long 
since  passed  out  of  print,  and  have  never  been  published 
in  English.  Yet  they  are  original  sources  of  prime 
importance  to  students  of  Indian  history  and  life;  for 
Perrot,  the  most  noted  of  the  Canadian  coureurs  de  bois, 
spent  most  of  his  life  among  the  western  tribes,  and  was 
a  keen  and  shrewd  observer- while  it  is  his  lost  memoirs 
on  Indian  affairs  which,  as  the  best  authorities  surmise 
furnished  material  for  most  of  La  Potherie's  second  vol- 
ume (the  part  of  his  Histoire  which  is  used  in  the 
present  work) . 

Very  appropriately  are  these  narratives  of  the  French 
domination  over  the  Indians  followed  by  two  valuable 


i4  PREFACE  [Vol. 

papers  on  the  natives  after  they  passed  under  the  control 
of  the  United  States;  these  were  written  a  century  later, 
by  American  officials  who  were  perhaps  equally  con- 
versant with  the  Indian  tribes  of  the  Northwest  Terri- 
tory. One  of  these  was  Major  Morrell  Marston,  U.S.A., 
commanding  at  Fort  Armstrong  (located  at  the  present 
Rock  Island,  111.),  who  in  1820  sent  a  report  on  the 
Sauk  and  Fox  tribes  to  Reverend  Dr.  Jedidiah  Morse, 
a  special  agent  sent  in  that  year  by  President  Monroe  to 
investigate  the  conditions  and  needs  of  the  Indian  tribes 
in  the  United  States.  Dr.  Morse's  report  of  this  mission 
(published  in  1822)  is  a  most  valuable  storehouse  of  in- 
formation on  that  subject;  but  it  is  known  mainly  to 
historical  writers,  and  is  almost  buried  under  nearly  a 
century's  dust.  For  the  present  publication  I  have  used 
the  original  autograph  manuscript  of  Marston,  which  is 
now  in  the  Manuscript  Department  of  the  Wisconsin 
State  Historical  Society.  This  statement  applies 
equally  to  the  document  which  follows  Marston's,  the 
"Account  of  the  manners  and  customs  of  the  Sauk  and 
Fox  nations"  furnished  (in  1827)  to  Gen.  William 
Clark,  then  U.S.  superintendent  of  Indian  affairs,  by 
Thomas  Forsyth,  government  agent  among  those  tribes  - 
a  man  who  was  considered  one  of  the  ablest  of  the  In- 
dian agents  of  his  time,  and  was  almost  the  counterpart 
of  Perrot  in  his  understanding  of  Indian  character,  influ- 
ence over  the  tribes,  and  shrewdness  of  judgment.  This 
paper  by  him  has  never  before  been  printed  in  any  form. 
To  these  documents  I  have  added  certain  appendices 
which,  with  the  extensive  annotations  provided,  sup- 
ply desirable  sidelights,  especially  on  the  real  character 
of  the  American  Indian  -  all  drawn  from  the  best  author- 
ities, and  presenting  the  subject  in  the  light  of  actual 
observation  and  scientific  method.  By  this  treatment  I 


one]  PREFACE  15 

have  endeavored  to  bring  the  work  down  to  the  present 
day,  and  render  it  a  connected  and  homogeneous  whole. 
Perrot's  life  among  the  Indian  tribes  began  as  early 
as  1665,  little  more  than  a  half-century  after  the  found- 
ing of  Quebec ;  and  during  nearly  forty  years  he  traveled 
and  lived  among  the  Indians -successively  as  engage 
to  the  Jesuit  missionaries,  coureur  de  bois  and  trader, 
explorer,  and  agent  of  the  Quebec  government.  His 
narrative  greatly  illumines  the  history  of  the  relations 
between  the  French  colony  and  the  Indian  tribes  within 
its  sphere  of  influence,  and  still  more  the  character  and 
customs  of  the  aboriginal  peoples  in  their  primitive  con- 
dition; for  he  was  the  first  white  visitor  to  several  of 
the  western  tribes,  and  even  those  of  the  east  were  not 
yet  very  greatly  altered  by  contact  with  Europeans.  He 
describes  the  creation  myths  and  the  religious  ideas  of 
the  Algonquian  peoples;  their  occupations,  modes  of 
hunting,  and  sports;  their  marriage  and  burial  customs; 
their  traits  of  character,  both  good  and  bad.  He  re- 
counts the  wars  between  the  Algonkins  and  Iroquois, 
and  the  expulsion  of  the  Hurons  from  their  ancient 
homes  by  the  latter;  the  flight  westward  of  the  peoples 
defeated  and  ruined  by  the  fierce  Iroquois;  the  relations 
of  the  French  with  all  the  savage  peoples ;  and  the  ex- 
tension of  French  domination  and  possession  toward  the 
west.  After  relating  various  instances  of  treachery  com- 
mitted by  the  Hurons,  he  dilates  on  the  insolence  and 
vainglory  of  the  savages'  nature,  and  the  impossibility 
of  relying  on  them  for  loyalty  to  France ;  and  closes  by 
outlining  the  attitude  and  policy  which  the  French 
ought  to  assume  toward  the  western  tribes.  Father  Tail- 
han,  the  first  editor  of  Perrot,  performed  his  task  con 
amore,  and  was  an  excellent  editor,  even  from  the  stand- 
point of  our  modern  historical  methods.  He  did  not 


16  PREFACE  [Vol. 

alter  or  obscure  the  text,  or  even  attempt  to  "modernize" 
it;  he  explained  all  his  emendations,  was  careful  and  fair 
in  statement,  and  sought  not  his  own  glory;  and  his  por- 
trait of  Perrot,  as  regards  both  character  and  abilities,  is 
well  drawn.  His  annotations  were  voluminous,  unneces- 
sarily so  at  the  present  time,  on  account  of  the  greater 
accessibility  of  the  works  on  which  he  drew;  and  I  have 
therefore  condensed  them  as  much  as  possible,  in  order 
to  obtain  space  for  later  and  more  scientific  informa- 
tion-retaining, however,  all  that  is  useful  to  the  modern 
reader,  as  well  as  many  of  Tailhan's  comments  on  In- 
dian character  and  the  policy  of  the  whites  toward  the 
dispossessed  Indian  tribes. 

Perrot's  lost  writings  evidently  reappear  in  the  next 
document  here  presented,  the  second  volume  of  La 
Potherie's  Histoire  de  I'Amerique  septentrionale.  This 
is  occupied  with  the  tribes  west  of  Lake  Huron,  and 
contains  much  information  that  is  nowhere  else  found, 
especially  regarding  the  peoples  along  the  upper  Mis- 
sissippi; irdescribes  with  considerable  detail  their  cus- 
toms, mode  of  life,  and  character;  their  early  tribal 
history;  and  their  relations  with  each  other  and  with 
the  French.  This  last  feature  is  of  especial  value,  as 
describing  the  nature  and  course  of  intertribal  and  inter- 
racial politics  in  that  early  period  (over  two  centuries 
ago)  when  these  great  commonwealths  of  Michigan, 
Wisconsin,  Illinois,  Iowa,  and  Minnesota  were  still  an 
almost  unbroken  wilderness,  inhabited  only  by  savage 
and  often  nomadic  tribes,  and  explored  only  by  a  few 
adventurous  Frenchmen -such  as  Perrot,  La  Salle,  and 
Joliet-and  a  few  zealous  and  intrepid  missionaries,  like 
Dablon,  Allouez,  and  Marquette.  These  white  men 
found  the  tribes  of  that  region  in  a  highly  primitive 
social  state,  at  that  time  entirely  unaffected,  or  but  slight- 


one]  PREFACE  17 

ly  modified,  by  contact  with  European  civilization ;  and 
their  observations,  as  recorded  in  Perrot,  La  Potherie, 
Charlevoix,  and  the  Jesuit  Relations,  are  invaluable  as 
records  of  early  aboriginal  life,  customs,  and  beliefs,  and 
for  the  study  of  primitive  society. 

Of  the  same  character  are  the  relations  of  Marston 
and  Forsyth  at  a  later  period,  save  that  in  their  time  all 
the  Indian  tribes  had  become  more  influenced  by  con- 
tact with  the  white  people,  and  that  their  forced  exodus 
to  the  west  side  of  the  Mississippi  was  well  under  way, 
before  the  steady  pressure  of  white  migration  to  the 
open,  fertile  regions  of  the  Central  West.  Marston 
made  diligent  inquiries  regarding  the  beliefs,  customs, 
mode  of  life,  occupations,  etc.,  of  the  Sauk  and  Fox 
tribes;  and  he  presents,  besides  these  matters,  sketches  of 
their  leading  chiefs,  enumeration  of  the  clans  within  the 
tribes,  etc.  At  the  close  of  his  letter,  he  criticizes  the 
government  factory  system,  and  makes  suggestions  as 
to  the  best  way  of  carrying  on  the  Indian  trade  and  im- 
proving the  material  and  social  condition  of  the  Indians. 

Equally  interesting  and  valuable  is  Forsyth's  account 
of  the  same  tribes,  written  seven  years  later;  to  some 
extent  he  covers  the  same  ground  as  does  Marston,  but 
he  adds  much  new  material.  He  describes  the  relations 
of  the  Sauk  and  Fox  with  other  tribes,  and  with  the 
whites ;  their  mode  of  warfare,  and  their  military  socie- 
ties; their  customs  and  mode  of  life;  their  marriage  and 
funeral  ceremonies,  and  the  naming  and  training  of 
children;  their  physical  traits,  and  their  treatment  of 
disease ;  their  ideas  of  the  universe,  religious  beliefs,  and 
mental  traits;  their  amusements,  hunting,  etc.  At  the 
end  of  this  memoir,  Forsyth  presents  some  observations 
on  the  language  of  those  tribes,  and  a  vocabulary  of 
considerable  length. 


i8 PREFACE [Vol. 

Following  these  documents  are  three  appendices :  (A) 
a  biographical  sketch  of  Nicolas  Perrot,  condensed  from 
Tailhan's  notes;  (B)  notes  by  leading  ethnologists  on 
Indian  social  organization,  mental  and  moral  traits,  re- 
ligious beliefs,  and  some  important  religious  movements 
among  western  tribes;  (C)  letters  written  to  the  editor 
by  missionaries  and  other  competent  observers,  describ- 
ing the  character  and  present  condition  of  the  Sioux, 
Potawatomi,  and  Winnebago  tribes. 

All  these  documents  are  of  great  value  as  original  ac- 
counts of  the  western  tribes,  obtained  through  personal 
observation  and  inquiry  by  reliable  and  competent  men, 
and  their  writings  are  a  precious  contribution  to  both 
historical  and  ethnological  knowledge.  But  perhaps 
even  more  valuable  to  the  student  in  those  fields  are  the 
conclusions  that  have  thus  far  been  reached  by  the  eth- 
nologists of  to-day,  based  on  collected  data  of  this  sort 
and  on  their  own  studies  of  aboriginal  life  and  thought, 
and  considered  in  the  light  of  modern  science  and  philo- 
sophy. Much  of  this  valuable  material  it  has  been  my 
privilege  to  secure  for  the  present  work,  through  the 
generous  cooperation  of  the  Bureau  of  American  Eth- 
nology at  Washington,  the  chief  officials  of  which  have 
kindly  furnished  to  me  not  only  answers  to  various 
special  inquiries,  but  the  proof-sheets  of  volume  two, 
Handbook  of  American  Indians,  permitting  me  to  use 
in  my  annotations,  etc.,  such  matter  as  I  might  desire. 
This  liberality  has  enabled  me  to  present  to  my  readers 
the  latest  and  most  reliable  information  regarding  many 
topics,  which  otherwise  could  have  been  obtained  only 
by  long  and  tedious  search  through  many  printed  vol- 
umes and  even  in  some  cases  would  have  been  entirely 
inaccessible.  With  this  aid,  I  have  endeavored  to  round 
out  and  unify  the  subject  as  presented  in  the  documents 


one]  PREFACE  19 

here  published,  and  to  place  before  the  reader  a  more 
accurate  and  lifelike  view  of  aboriginal  life  and  char- 
acter than  is  usually  entertained  by  readers  who  know 
the  Indian  mainly  through  newspaper  and  magazine 
"stories,"  novels,  and  "Wild  West  shows."  My  work  on 
these  volumes  will  be  well  repaid  if  those  who  read  them 
gain  a  clearer  realization  that  the  Indian  is  in  reality 
very  much  the  same  kind  of  being  that  his  white  brother 
would  have  been  if  put  in  the  red  man's  place ;  and  that 
we  all,  whether  red,  black,  brown,  yellow,  or  white,  be- 
long to  one  great  human  race,  the  work  of  one  Creator, 
the  children  of  one  common  Father. 

The  deepening  and  growing  consciousness  in  the 
world  of  human  brotherhood,  and  of  our  responsibility 
toward  one  another,  is  perhaps  the  most  cheering  token 
of  progress  and  upward  growth  in  this  latter  day;  but 
unfortunately  one  still  encounters  occasional  survivals 
of  the  idea  once  current  in  certain  quarters  that  "there  is 
no  good  Indian  except  a  dead  one."  Inhuman  and  bru- 
tal as  this  is,  it  has  been  uttered  even  by  persons  who 
called  themselves  Christians;  and  occasion  still  remains 
to  protest  against  such  cruel  and  unjust  notions.  Com- 
plete refutation  of  them  is  found  in  the  many  instances  of 
noble  words  and  deeds  by  Indians ;  in  the  progress  made 
by  some  of  the  tribes  in  civilization  and  religious  life; 
in  the  results  of  modern  ethnological  research  and  study; 
and  in  the  practical  application  of  the  Golden  Rule, 
which,  translated  into  the  vernacular,  reads,  "Put  your- 
self in  his  place."  There  is  of  course,  as  every  one  knows, 
an  evil  side  in  the  savage  character;  the  history  of  many 
tribes  and  many  individuals  is  blackened  by  duplicity, 
treachery,  and  ferocious  cruelty;  and  there  are  depraved 
Indians,  as  well  as  good  ones.  But  it  must  not  be  for- 
gotten that  the  Indians  have,  with  some  exceptions,  dur- 


20  PREFACE  [Vol. 

ing  most  of  our  acquaintance  with  them  been  in  the 
primitive  stages  of  culture,  and  we  can  not  in  justice 
apply  to  them  the  same  strictness  of  judgment  to  which 
we  who  have  passed  through  many  more  centuries  of 
evolution  and  progress  are  rightly  liable ;  that  the  white 
man's  record  in  the  border  wars  and  even  in  later  deal- 
ings with  the  Indians,  is  not  so  spotless  that  we  can  cast 
all  the  blame  on  the  other  side ;  and  that  in  no  case  is  it 
right  to  censure  all  for  the  evil  deeds  of  some. 

The  government  of  the  United  States  is  doing  all  in 
its  power,  in  most  cases,  for  the  best  welfare  of  the  In- 
dian peoples  under  its  care;  but  it  needs  for  this  purpose 
a  backing  of  public  interest  and  opinion  even  stronger 
than  it  has  thus  far  received,  and,  still  more,  the  efforts 
of  each  individual  citizen  to  aid,  by  word  and  deed,  in 
securing  just  and  humane  treatment  for  the  Indians.  So 
long  as  greedy  and  conscienceless  traders  sell  to  them  (in 
violation  of  the  laws)  vile  whisky  and  shoddy  or  adul- 
terated goods,  so  long  as  other  unscrupulous  white  men 
take  advantage  of  their  ignorance  or  lack  of  judgment 
to  cheat  them  in  regard  to  their  work  or  other  business 
dealings,  so  long  will  the  efforts  of  missionaries,  govern- 
ment officials,  and  others  who  are  trying  to  uplift  the 
Indians  be  to  a  certain  extent  neutralized;  and  public 
opinion  should  be  interested  and  strong  enough  to  re- 
buke sharply  all  such  evil  acts,  no  matter  by  whom  com- 
mitted. I  do  not  ask  for  any  sentimental  effusion  or 
lavish  giving  in  behalf  of  the  Indians;  but  only  for 
justice  in  all  our  dealings  with  them,  and  for  the  same 
humane  and  kind  interest  in  improving  their  material 
and  moral  condition  that  we  consider  proper  for  the  poor 
or  ignorant  classes  in  our  white  population.  Let  them  be 
given  a  "square  deal"  in  every  way,  and  there  is  no  doubt 
that  in  time  they  will  prove  themselves  worthy  of  it. 


one]  PREFACE  21 

My  cordial  thanks  are  tendered  to  those  who  have 
furnished  information  and  other  aid  in  the  preparation 
of  this  work.  Every  contribution  that  I  have  used  has 
been  credited  to  its  proper  source,  and  is  gratefully  ap- 
preciated. Especial  recognition  is  due  to  Dr.  W.  H. 
Holmes  (now  curator  of  ethnological  department  in 
U.S.  National  Museum)  and  Dr.  F.  W.  Hodge,  of  the 
Bureau  of  American  Ethnology,  for  aid  and  favors  which 
I  have  already  mentioned ;  Prof.  Frederick  J.  Turner,  of 
Harvard  University  (late  of  University  of  Wisconsin), 
for  valuable  criticism  and  suggestions;  Mr.  Charles  E. 
Brown,  secretary  of  the  Wisconsin  Archeological  Socie- 
ty and  curator  of  the  State  Historical  Museum,  for  val- 
uable aid;  Dr.  R.  G.  Thwaites,  secretary  of  the  Wiscon- 
sin State  Historical  Society,  for  permission  to  use  some 
sixty  pages  of  matter  in  Wisconsin  Historical  Collec- 
tions, volume  sixteen  (translated  for  that  work  from 
Perrot  and  La  Potherie  by  the  present  editor) ,  and  other 
courtesies;  and  Mr.  Frank  E.  Stevens,  Sycamore,  111., 
for  photograph  of  Fort  Armstrong  and  various  informa- 
tion. Thanks  are  also  extended  to  Dr.  W.  B.  Hinsdale, 
of  the  University  of  Michigan;  Sister  Lillian,  S.H.N., 
Oneida,  Wis. ;  Gardner  P.  Stickney,  Milwaukee,  Wis. ; 
Hon.  Francis  E.  Leupp,  late  commissioner  of  Indian 
affairs ;  and  Dr.  E.  Kremers,  University  of  Wisconsin, 
for  various  courtesies.  E.  H.  B. 

Madison,  Wis.,  January,  1911. 


MEMOIR  ON  THE  MANNERS, 
customs,  and  religion  of  the  savages  of 
North  America.  By  Nicolas  Perrot. 

Edited  and  published  (in  French)  for  the  first 
time  (Leipzig  and  Paris,  1864)  by  the  Reverend 
Jules  Tailhan,  S.J. 

Now  first  translated  into  English. 


Preface  to  the  original  French  edition 

In  1671  France,  already  mistress  of  Acadia,  and  of 
Canada  as  far  as  Lake  Ontario,  took  possession  of  all  the 
regions,  discovered  or  to  be  discovered,  from  the  North- 
ern Sea  to  the  Southern  Sea,  and  from  the  Western  Sea 
to  Lakes  Huron  and  Superior.  Thus  by  a  stroke  of  the 
pen,  and  in  the  presence  and  with  the  consent  of  some 
fifteen  tribes  hastily  called  together,  she  appropriated 
to  herself  the  exclusive  dominion  of  all  North  America 
save  the  English  colonies  bordering  on  the  Atlantic,  and 
Mexico,  which  was  subject  to  Spain.  Soon  afterward 
(1682  and  1689) ,  the  cession  of  Louisiana  and  the  Sioux 
country,  to  which  the  natives  gave  more  or  less  actual 
consent,  confirmed,  so  far  as  the  Mississippi  Valley  was 
concerned,  the  somewhat  disputable  rights  originating 
in  that  first  assumption  of  possession.  Unfortunately,  the 
actual  occupation  of  the  territory  was  not  commensurate 
with  this  enormous  extension  of  nominal  sovereignty. 
There  were  seven  or  eight  thousand  Frenchmen,  clus- 
tered in  little  settlements  in  the  towns  of  Quebec,  Three 
Rivers,  or  Montreal,  or  scattered  along  both  banks  of 
the  St.  Lawrence  from  Cap  Tourmente  to  the  infant 
village  of  La  Chine;  in  such  condition  was  the  coloniza- 
tion of  Canada,  even  after  sixty  years.  Further  up  the 
river,  toward  the  west,  Fort  Frontenac  and  four  or  five 
posts  of  less  importance,  a  dozen  missionaries,  and  a  few 
hundred  coureurs  de  bois*  were  all  that  reminded  the 

1  Literally,  "forest  rovers"  or  "rangers"  —  preferably  the  former  wording, 
since  the  latter  is  now  applied  to  officials  in  the  United  States  Forestry  Service. 
See  account  of  these  men  and  their  occupation,  in  note  164.  —  ED. 


26  NICOLAS    PERROT  [Vol. 

traveler  that  he  was  treading  on  French  soil.  On  the 
other  hand,  and  while  the  European  population  was 
receiving  hardly  perceptible  accessions,  the  aboriginal 
race  was  continually  diminishing  with  disheartening 
rapidity.  The  flourishing  settlements  in  which  Jacques 
Carrier  in  1535  met  so  friendly  a  reception  had  already 
ceased  to  exist  in  the  time  of  Champlain;  and  the  nu- 
merous tribes  of  Hurons  and  Algonquins  whose  alliance 
the  founder  of  Quebec  accepted  a  century  later  [than 
Carder]  had,  at  the  period  of  which  we  speak,  been 
overwhelmed  by  the  attacks  of  the  Iroquois,  or  had  en- 
tirely disappeared,  or  outlived  their  ruin  only  in  scat- 
tered and  miserable  remnants.  In  order  to  find  again,  in 
the  entire  extent  of  the  French  possessions,  even  a  faint 
image  of  the  former  power  and  prosperity  of  the  sav- 
ages, it  was  necessary  in  1689  to  search  for  it  as  far  away 
as  the  Miamis  and  the  Maskoutens,  at  the  apex  of  the 
triangle  which  the  valleys  of  the  Mississippi  and  the 
St.  Lawrence  together  form. 

It  was  there,  in  the  midst  of  peoples  of  diverse  races - 
who  had  been  always  established  in  that  region,  the  most 
remote  from  New  France,  or  who  had  more  recently 
fled  thither  as  being  an  asylum  inaccessible  to  their 
enemies -that  Nicolas  Perrot,2  the  author  of  the  present 
memoir,  resided  almost  habitually  from  1665  to  1699. 
At  first  an  ordinary  coureur  de  hots  by  occupation 
(1665-1684),  and  on  occasion  an  interpreter  (1671  and 
1701 ) ,  he  was  later,  under  the  successive  governments  of 
La  Barre,  Denonville,  and  Frontenac  ( 1684-1699) ,  com- 
missioned to  exercise  an  authority  analogous  to  that  of 
our  chiefs  of  "Arab  bureaus"3  in  Algeria.  His  famil- 

2  See  biographical  notice  of  Perrot,  Volume   II,   appendix  A.  —  ED. 

3  In  1860  the  government  of  Algeria  was  reorganized.     "Under  the  authority 
of  the  governor-general,  the  administration   was  divided   between   two   high 


one]  PREFACE  27 

iarity  with  the  languages  of  the  country,  his  natural 
eloquence,  and  the  happy  mingling  of  bravery,  sang- 
froid, and  generosity  which  formed  the  basis  of  his  char- 
acter-these  soon  won  for  him  the  esteem,  confidence, 
and  even  affection  of  the  natives,  at  least  so  far  as  those 
people  are  accessible  to  this  last  feeling.  The  Pouteoua- 
tamis,  the  Maloumins,  the  Outagamis,  the  Miamis  and 
Maskoutens,  the  Ayoes,  and  the  Sioux  accorded  to  him, 
with  the  honors  of  the  calumet,  the  rights  and  preroga- 
tives which  their  own  chiefs  enjoyed;  and  not  less  was 
his  influence  over  the  Outaouais  and  the  Tionnontate 
Hurons.  We  hasten  to  add  to  his  praises  the  fact  that  he 
placed  at  the  service  of  the  [French]  colony  this  influ- 
ence, so  legitimately  acquired,  as  long  as  he  was  per- 
mitted to  employ  it -that  is,  up  to  the  time  when  the 
suppression  of  the  French  posts  in  Michigan  and  Wis- 
consin, and  that  of  the  [fur]  trade,4  broke  off  the  rela- 
tions between  him  and  the  savages. 

Those  long  years  of  intimate  and  daily  intercourse 
with  the  western  tribes  had  initiated  Perrot  in  all  the 
secrets  of  their  customs,  their  traditions,  and  their  his- 
tory. Returning  to  private  life,  and  becoming  master 
of  some  leisure,  he  resolved  to  commit  to  writing  this 

functionaries,  independent  of  each  other,  a  lieutenant-governor  and  a  director  of 
civil  affairs.  The  former  was  not  only  commander-in-chief  of  the  array  of 
Africa;  he  had  also  the  administration  of  the  military  jurisdiction,  exercised 
through  three  generals  of  division  and  the  'Arab  bureaus'  placed  under  their 
authority."  See  Leroy-Beaulieu's  L'Algerie  et  la  Tunisie  (Paris,  1897), 
286.  -  ED. 

4  The  fur  trade  of  Canada  was  from  the  first  a  royal  monopoly,  usually 
"farmed  out"  to  either  individuals  or  trading  companies;  but  illegal  traffic, 
carried  on  by  the  coureurs  de  bois  and  even  by  many  government  officials,  di- 
verted much  of  the  profit  from  the  royal  treasury,  and  led  to  numerous  efforts  to 
restrict  and  punish  it.  Tailhan  here  alludes  to  the  revocation  in  1698  of  the 
twenty-five  licenses  granted  by  the  crown  (1681)  to  private  persons  to  carry  on 
the  fur  trade.  These  were  restored  in  1716,  but  revoked  three  years  later;  and 
again  restored  in  1726.  —  ED. 


28  NICOLAS   PERROT  [Vol. 

treasure  of  knowledge  gradually  gathered  at  the  price 
of  so  many  fatigues  and  dangers ;  and  thus  was  composed 
the  memoir  which  we  are  now  publishing  for  the  first 
time.  In  writing  it,  Perrot  had  in  mind  no  other  object 
than  to  enlighten  confidentially  the  intendant  of  Canada 8 
in  regard  to  the  real  characters  of  the  tribes  in  alliance 
with  or  hostile  to  France,  and  the  relations  which  ought 
to  be  maintained  with  them.  He  therefore  did  not  yield 
to  the  desire  for  making  himself  conspicuous,  or  to  the 
inducement,  at  once  so  easy  and  so  powerful,  to  vilify 
his  equals  or  his  superiors  for  the  benefit  of  a  jealous 
mediocrity.  He  relates  what  he  knew,  and  what  he  saw 
with  his  own  eyes ;  he  relates  it  according  to  his  ability, 
without  any  literary  pretension,  without  any  anxiety 
for  the  favors  of  a  public  for  which  he  did  not  intend  his 
work;  and  he  stops  writing  when  his  supply  of  paper 
comes  to  an  end.  Moreover,  he  is  never  seen  to  distort 
the  facts  in  order  to  accommodate  them  to  the  require- 
ments of  his  own  self-love.  If  he  makes  mistakes  (and 
that  sometimes  occurs),  it  is  in  points  of  little  import- 
ance, or  in  regard  to  a  few  events  of  which  he  had  not 
been  an  actual  witness.  In  short,  in  the  memoir  which 
he  has  left  us  the  evident  imperfection  of  its  form  is 
amply  redeemed  by  the  exactness  of  the  information 
which  constitutes  its  groundwork.  The  sincerity  and 
the  special  knowledge  of  Perrot  are,  moreover,  placed 
beyond  any  doubt  by  the  perfect  agreement  which  pre- 
vails between  him  and  the  best  informed  writers,  either 
preceding  or  contemporary  with  him.  Their  accounts, 
not  only  the  printed  but  the  unpublished  ones,  confirm 

6  Referring  to  Claude  Michel  Begon,  who  held  office  from  August,  1712,  to 
August,  1726.  The  intendant  (usually  a  lawyer)  had  charge  of  the  affairs  of 
finance,  justice,  and  police  in  the  colony;  the  office  was  created  partly  to  re- 
lieve the  governor  from  those  responsibilities,  partly  as  a  check  on  his  conduct 
when  arbitrary  or  illegal.  As  might  be  expected,  the  relations  between  these 
two  officials  were  seldom  friendly.  —  ED. 


one]  PREFACE  29 

at  nearly  all  points  the  assertions  of  our  author.  One 
may  be  easily  convinced  of  this,  by  glancing  over  the 
notes  in  which  I  have  opposed  the  evidence  of  those  re- 
lations to  the  criticisms  which  some  anonymous  person 
has  written  on  the  margins  of  our  manuscript.6 

It  is,  again,  to  those  ancient  and  precious  documents 
that  I  have  had  recourse,  whenever  there  has  been  a 
question  of  elucidating  or  completing  Perrot's  narrative. 
I  have  followed  the  same  course  in  the  notices,  more  or 
less  extensive,  which  it  has  seemed  to  me  ought  to  be 
devoted,  either  to  the  author  himself,  or  to  such  of  the 
savage  tribes  as  he  mentions  oftenest  in  his  work.  In 
these  matters,  the  role  of  reporter  is  the  only  one  which 
could  be  fitting  for  me.  In  order  to  be  more  faithful  to 
this,  I  have  frequently  substituted  the  full  citation  of 
texts  for  the  mere  references  whose  exactness  it  would 
sometimes  have  been  difficult  to  verify.  The  reader  will 
thus  have,  in  the  more  important  questions,  facilities  for 
forming  his  judgment  from  the  documents  themselves. 

There  exists  but  one  copy  (of  the  last  century)  of 
Perrot's  memoir,  in  all  probability  the  same  which  was 
used  by  Father  Charlevoix,7  and  which  he  obtained  from 
Monsieur  Begon,  intendant  of  Canada,  in  1721.  Our 
edition  is  a  scrupulous  reproduction  of  that  copy.  When 
at  various  times  an  addition  or  a  correction  has  appeared 
to  me  necessary,  I  have  introduced  it  into  the  text,  but 
within  brackets,  retaining  along  with  it  the  original  read- 
ing, in  order  that  the  reader  may  always  be  able  to  recog- 
nize what  properly  belongs  to  Perrot.  Moreover,  of 
these  additions  or  corrections  there  is  little  of  which  I 

6  Notes  made  by  this  anonymous  annotator  will  be  indicated  by  ANON.,  fol- 
lowing. —  ED. 

7  Pierre  F.  X.  de  Charlevoix,  a  noted  Jesuit  historian,  whose  work  entitled 
Histoire  et  description  generate  de  la  Nouvelle  France  (Paris,  1744)   is  one  of 
our  most  valued   authorities    for   the   early   history  of   New   France   and   its 
peoples.  —  ED. 


30  NICOLAS   PERROT 

am  the  author;  nearly  all  of  them  appear  written  above 
the  lines  in  the  manuscript  which  I  have  employed  for 
this  edition. 

In  conclusion,  permit  me  to  return  thanks  to  my  friend 
and  former  colleague  in  the  University  of  Quebec,  Mon- 
sieur the  abbe  Ferland;  and  to  Monsieur  Margry,8  for 
a  long  time  well  known  on  account  of  his  learned  re- 
searches in  the  history  of  our  colonies.  The  advice  and 
information  received  from  them  have  admirably  aided 
me  in  fulfilling  with  fewer  imperfections  the  task  which 
I  had  assumed.  J.  TAILHAN.9 

Paris,  July  3,  1864. 


8  Pierre  Margry  (1818-1894)  was  for  many  years  archivist  of  the  Ministry 
of  Marine  and  Colonies  at  Paris,  and  while  in  that  post  made  industrious  re- 
searches in  the  Mss.  under  his  charge  for  such  as  related  to  French  exploration 
and  colonization  in  North  America.     A  selection  of  these  was  published  by  him 
(Paris,  1876-1886),  under  the  title  Decouvertes  et  etablissements  des  Franqais 
dans  I'ouest  et  dans  le  sud  de  I'Amerique  septenirionale  (1614-1754}  ;  to  enable 
him  to  do  this  the  U.S.  Congress  voted   (1873)   to  subscribe  for  five  hundred 
copies  of  the  work.     A  large  part  of  its  contents  is  devoted  to  the  achievements 
of  La  Salle,  for  whom  Margry  claimed  the  first  discovery  of  the  Mississippi 
River;  a  great  controversy  arose  among  historical  writers  and  students  over  this 
question,  but  the  best   authorities  have   regarded  the  weight  of  evidence   as 
favoring  the  priority  of  Marquette  and  Joliet  in  making  this  discovery. 

Abbe  J.  B.  A.  Ferland,  a  prominent  Canadian  historian,  is  best  known  by  his 
Cours  d'histoire  du  Canada  (Quebec,  1861,  1865),  a  valuable  work  displaying 
much  historical  ability,  thoroughness,  and  conscientious  scholarship.  —  ED. 

9  Jules  Tailhan  was  born  at  Limoux,  France,  Jan.  6,  1816;  he  entered  the 
Jesuit  novitiate  Oct.  17,  1841,  and  two  years  of  his  scholastic  life  were  spent 
in  the  Jesuit  college  of  Quebec.     For  several  years  he  was  librarian  of  the 
ficole  de  Ste.  Genevieve  at  Paris,  and  long  an  agent  there  for  missions  abroad ; 
and  he  died   in  that  city  June  26,   1891.     Besides   his   editorship   of  Perrot's 
Memoire,  he  wrote  a  few  books  (chiefly  in  his  earlier  years,  and  on  theological 
subjects)  ;  and  many  articles  for  magazines  and  reviews,  on  matters  relating  to 
bibliography    and   literature    and    Spanish    history.     See    SommervogePs    Bib- 
liotheque  de  la  Compagnie  de  Jesus  (Bruxelles  and  Paris,  1890-1900).  —  ED. 


I.     Beliefs  of  the  savage  tribes  of  North  Am- 
erica regarding  the  creation  of  the  world, 
before  Europeans  had  visited  and 
associated  with  them 

All  the  peoples  who  inhabit  North  America  have  no 
knowledge  about  the  creation  of  the  world  save  what 
they  have  learned  from  the  Europeans  who  discovered 
them,  and  those  with  whom  they  have  constant  inter- 
course ;  and  they  give  hardly  any  attention  even  to  that 
knowledge.  Among  them  there  is  no  knowledge  of 
letters  or  of  the  art  of  writing;  and  all  their  history  of 
ancient  times  proves  to  be  only  confused  and  fabulous 
notions,  which  are  so  simple,  so  gross,  and  so  ridiculous 
that  they  only  deserve  to  be  brought  to  light  in  order  to 
show  the  ignorance  and  rudeness  of  those  peoples. 

They  believe  that  before  the  earth  was  created  there 
was  nothing  but  water;  that  upon  this  vast  extent  of 
water  floated  a  great  wooden  raft,10  upon  which  were 

10  French,  cajeux,  meaning  "a  wooden  raft  or  sledge;"  sometimes  is  written 
cayeux  or  ca'teul  in  the  Jesuit  Relations.  This  word  is  still  used  in  Canada. 

—  TAILHAN. 

The  annotations  made  by  Tailhan  on  Perrot's  narrative  are  detailed  and 
voluminous,  so  much  so  that  they  occupy  more  space  than  the  text  itself;  he 
carefully  examined  the  best  early  authorities  on  the  history  of  New  France 
and  its  peoples  —  the  Relations  of  the  Jesuit  missionaries ;  the  works  of  Cham- 
plain,  La  Potherie,  Charlevoix,  Lafitau,  and  others ;  the  Lettres  edifiantes  —  and 
cited  from  these  very  fully  whatever  might  throw  light  on  Perrot's  memoir.  At 
that  time  these  works  were  less  widely  known  and  less  accessible  than  they  are 
now,  and  historical  students  had  reason  for  much  gratitude  to  this  learned  and 
scholarly  priest  for  placing  before  them  the  fruits  of  his  researches.  Since 
Tailhan's  day,  the  multiplication  and  greater  publicity  of  libraries  and  the  in- 
creased activity  of  private  collectors  have  made  those  valuable  works  more 
accessible  to  students;  and,  moreover,  editions  of  Charlevoix,  parts  of 


32  NICOLAS   PERROT 

all  the  animals,  of  various  kinds,  which  exist  on  earth ; 
and  the  chief  of  these,  they  say,  was  the  Great  Hare.  He 
looked  about  for  some  spot  of  solid  ground  where  they 
could  land;  but  as  nothing  could  be  seen  on  the  water 
save  swans  and  other  river-birds,  he  began  to  be  dis- 
couraged. He  saw  no  other  hope  than  to  induce  the 
beaver  to  dive,  in  order  to  bring  up  a  little  soil  from  the 
bottom  of  the  water;  and  he  assured  the  beaver,  in  the 
name  of  all  the  animals,  that  if  he  returned  with  even  one 
grain  of  soil,  he  would  produce  from  it  land  sufficiently 
spacious  to  contain  and  feed  all  of  them.  But  the  beaver 
tried  to  excuse  himself  from  this  undertaking,  giving  as 
his  reason  that  he  had  already  dived  in  the  neighborhood 
of  the  raft  without  rinding  there  any  indication  of  a 
bottom.  Nevertheless,  he  was  so  urgently  pressed  to 
attempt  again  this  great  enterprise  that  he  took  the  risk 
of  it  and  dived.  He  remained  so  long  without  coming  to 
the  surface  that  those  who  had  entreated  him  to  go  be- 
lieved that  he  was  drowned ;  but  finally  he  was  seen  ap- 
pearing, almost  dead,  and  motionless.  Then  all  the  other 
animals,  seeing  that  he  was  in  no  condition  to  climb  upon 
the  raft,  immediately  exerted  themselves  to  drag  him  up 

Lettres  edifiantes,  and  especially  of  the  Jesuit  Relations,  in  English  translation, 
have  placed  these  within  reach  of  readers  unacquainted  with  the  French 
language.  In  this  new  edition  and  translation  of  Perrot,  therefore,  the  editor 
has  deemed  it  best  to  omit  most  of  the  long  citations  from  those  works,  retaining, 
however,  full  references  to  the  volumes  and  pages.  In  reading  the  Jesuit  Re- 
lations (of  which  full  sets  of  the  original  editions  are  even  now  quite  rare) 
Tailhan  used  the  Quebec  edition;  but  as  the  various  Relations  are  therein  sep- 
arately paged,  his  references  to  them  extend  in  the  present  edition  only  to  the 
chapter,  which  can  be  consulted  even  more  easily  in  the  Cleveland  reissue 
(1896-1901),  entitled  The  Jesuit  Relations  and  Allied  Documents.  The  latter 
edition  is  cited  in  the  present  annotations  as  Jesuit  Relations;  the  former,  simply 
as  Relation  of  1650,  etc.  By  shortening  Tailhan's  annotations  (in  which,  how- 
ever, all  that  is  really  valuable  has  been  carefully  retained),  more  space  has 
been  secured  for  later  and  more  scientific  information.  It  may  be  added  here 
that  in  the  necessary  condensation  of  Tailhan's  notes,  and  of  those  obtained  from 
the  invaluable  Handbook  of  American  Indians,  the  exact  language  of  each 
writer  has  been  used  when  possible,  and  is  enclosed  in  quotation  marks.  —  ED. 


. 


CREATION    BELIEFS  35 

on  it;  and  after  they  had  carefully  examined  his  claws 
and  tail  they  found  nothing  thereon. 

Their  slight  remaining  hope  of  being  able  to  save  their 
lives  induced  them  to  address  the  otter,  and  entreat  him 
to  make  another  effort  to  search  for  a  little  soil  at  the 
bottom  of  the  water.  They  represented  to  him  that  he 
would  go  down  quite  as  much  for  his  own  welfare  as  for 
theirs;  the  otter  yielded  to  their  just  expostulations,  and 
plunged  into  the  water.  He  remained  at  the  bottom 
longer  than  the  beaver  had  done,  and  returned  to  them 
in  the  same  condition  as  the  latter,  and  with  as  little 
result. 

The  impossibility  of  finding  a  dwelling-place  where 
they  could  maintain  themselves  left  them  nothing  more 
to  hope  for;  when  the  muskrat  proposed  that,  if  they 
wished,  he  should  go  to  try  to  find  a  bottom,  and  said 
that  he  also  believed  that  he  could  bring  up  some  sand 
from  it.  The  animals  did  not  depend  much  on  this 
undertaking,  since  the  beaver  and  the  otter,  who  were 
far  stronger  than  he,  had  not  been  able  to  carry  it  out; 
however,  they  encouraged  him  to  go,  and  even  promised 
that  he  should  be  ruler  over  the  whole  country  if  he 
succeeded  in  accomplishing  his  plan.  The  muskrat  then 
jumped  into  the  water,  and  boldly  dived;  and,  after  he 
had  remained  there  nearly  twenty-four  hours  he  made 
his  appearance  at  the  edge  of  the  raft,  his  belly  upper- 
most, motionless,  and  his  four  feet  tightly  clenched.  The 
other  animals  took  hold  of  him,  and  carefully  drew  him 
up  on  the  raft.  They  unclosed  one  of  his  paws,  then  a 
second,  then  a  third,  and  finally  the  fourth  one,  in  which 
there  was  between  the  claws  a  little  grain  of  sand. 

The  Great  Hare,  who  had  promised  to  form  a  broad 
and  spacious  land,  took  this  grain  of  sand,  and  let 
it  fall  upon  the  raft,  when  it  began  to  increase;  then 


36  NICOLAS   PERROT  [Vol. 

he  took  a  part  of  it,  and  scattered  this  about,  which 
caused  the  mass  of  soil  to  grow  larger  and  larger.  When 
it  had  reached  the  size  of  a  mountain,  he  started  to  walk 
around  it,  and  it  steadily  increased  in  size  to  the  extent 
of  his  path.  As  soon  as  he  thought  it  was  large  enough, 
he  ordered  the  fox  to  go  to  inspect  his  work,  with  power 
to  enlarge  it  still  more ;  and  the  latter  obeyed.  The  fox, 
when  he  had  ascertained  that  it  was  sufficiently  exten- 
sive for  him  to  secure  easily  his  own  prey,  returned  to 
the  Great  Hare  to  inform  him  that  the  land  was  able  to 
contain  and  support  all  the  animals.  At  this  report,  the 
Great  Hare  made  a  tour  throughout  his  creation  and 
found  that  it  was  incomplete.  Since  then,  he  has  not 
been  willing  to  trust  any  of  the  other  animals,  and  con- 
tinues always  to  increase  what  he  has  made,  by  moving 
without  cessation  around  the  earth.  This  idea  causes 
the  savages  to  say,  when  they  hear  loud  noises  in  the 
hollows  of  the  mountains,  that  the  Great  Hare  is  still 
enlarging  the  earth ;  they  pay  honors  to  him,  and  regard 
him  as  the  deity  who  created  it.  Such  is  the  information 
which  those  peoples  give  us  regarding  the  creation  of  the 
world,  which  they  believe  to  be  always  borne  upon  that 
raft.  As  for  the  sea  and  the  firmament,  they  assert  that 
these  have  existed  for  all  time.11 

11  "Xhe  traditions  collected  by  Perrot,  in  this  chapter  and  the  following, 
were  common  to  the  greater  part  of  the  peoples  of  New  France,"  found,  with 
greater  or  less  variation,  among  not  only  the  Algonquian  tribes  but  those  of  the 
Huron-Iroquois  family  (consult  Charlevoix's  Histoire  de  la  Nouvelle  France, 
vol.  iii,  344;  Lettres  ediftantes,  Paris,  ed.  1781,  vol.  iv,  168,  169;  and  Jesuit  Re- 
lations—of 1633;  of  1634,  chap,  iv;  of  1636,  part  2,  chap.  i).  But  Perrot  pays 
most  attention  to  the  traditions  and  beliefs  of  the  Outaouais  of  the  lake  region. 
"Of  all  the  peoples  above  enumerated,  the  Outaouais  alone  ascribe  to  the  Great 
Hare  the  formation  of  the  earth.  According  to  them,  this  Great  Hare  (Micha- 
bou,  Ouisaketchak)  was  a  man  of  gigantic  stature,  born  in  the  island  of 
Michillimakinak  (now  Makinac,  in  Lake  Huron),  who  made  the  first  nets  for 
catching  fish,  on  the  model  of  the  web  woven  by  the  spider.  (Relation  of  1670, 
chap,  xii;  Lett,  edif.,  vol.  iv,  168,  169.)"  The  Hurons  had  not  this  tradition 
of  the  Great  Hare  as  creator.  The  Montagnais  "make  him  the  younger  brother 


one]  CREATION    BELIEFS  37 

II.     Belief  of  the  savages  regarding 
the  creation  of  man 

After  the  creation  of  the  earth,  all  the  other  animals 
withdrew  into  the  places  which  each  kind  found  most 
suitable  for  obtaining  therein  their  pasture  or  their  prey. 
When  the  first  ones  died,  the  Great  Hare  caused  the 
birth  of  men  from  their  corpses,  as  also  from  those  of 
the  fishes  which  were  found  along  the  shores  of  the 
rivers  which  he  had  formed  in  creating  the  land.  Ac- 
cordingly, some  of  the  savages  derive  their  origin  from 
a  bear,  others  from  a  moose,  and  others  similarly  from 
various  kinds  of  animals;  and  before  they  had  inter- 
course with  the  Europeans  they  firmly  believed  this,  per- 
suaded that  they  had  their  being  from  those  kinds  of 
creatures  whose  origin  was  as  above  explained.  Even 
today  that  notion  passes  among  them  for  undoubted 
truth,  and  if  there  are  any  of  them  at  this  time  who  are 
weaned  from  believing  this  dream,  it  has  been  only  by 
dint  of  laughing  at  them  for  so  ridiculous  a  belief.  You""] 
will  hear  them  say  that  their  villages  each  bear  the  name 

,      ,  •  t          i    •     i      ,  •  •  11-1-  JD 

or  the  animal  which  has  given  its  people  their  being- 
as  that  of  the  crane,  or  the  bear,  or  of  other  animals.^ 
They  imagine  that  they  were  created  by  other  divinities 
than  those  which  we  recognize,  because  we  have  many 
inventions  which  they  do  not  possess,  as  the  art  of  writ- 
ing, shooting  with  a  gun,  making  gunpowder,  muskets, 
and  other  things  which  are  used  by  [civilized]  mankind. 

of  the  Messou  or  Creator,  and,  by  a  just  compensation,  the  elder  brother  of  the 
animals  of  his  kind  —  that  is,  a  hare  wonderfully  great  and  powerful ;  the  same, 
very  probably,  who  was  one  day  put  to  death  by  a  certain  Tchakabesch,  whose 
mother  he  had  (without  any  doubt,  through  absent-mindedness)  devoured. 
(Relation  of  1637,  chap,  xi;  id.  of  1634,  chap,  iv.)  Since  I  have  spoken  of  the 
Outaouais,  I  will  observe  that  this  name  properly  belonged  to  the  tribe  of 
Cheveux-Releves  (Ondataouaouat)  ;  later,  the  French  used  it  to  designate  all 
the  other  tribes  of  Upper  Algonquins  (Relation  of  1670,  chap,  x)." -TAILHAN. 

90 


38  NICOLAS   PERROT  [Vol. 

Those  first  men  who  formed  the  human  race,  being 
scattered  in  different  parts  of  the  land,  found  out  that 
they  had  minds.  They  beheld  here  and  there  buffaloes, 
elks,  and  deer,  all  kinds  of  birds  and  animals,  and  many 
rivers  abounding  in  fish.  These  first  men,  I  say,  whom 
hunger  had  weakened,  inspired  by  the  Great  Hare  with 
an  intuitive  idea,  broke  off  a  branch  from  a  small  tree, 
made  a  cord  with  the  fibers  of  the  nettle,  scraped  the 
bark  from  a  piece  of  a  bough  with  a  sharp  stone,  and 
armed  its  end  with  another  sharp  stone,  to  serve  them 
as  an  arrow;  and  thus  they  formed  a  bow  [and  arrows] 
with  which  they  killed  small  birds.  After  that,  they 
made  viretons,™  in  order  to  attack  the  large  beasts ;  they 
skinned  these,  and  tried  to  eat  the  flesh.  But  as  they 
found  only  the  fat  savory,  they  tried  to  make  fire,  in 
order  to  cook  their  meat;  and,  trying  to  get  it,  they  took 
for  that  purpose  hard  wood,  but  without  success ;  and 
[finally]  they  used  softer  wood,  which  yielded  them 
fire.13  The  skins  of  the  animals  served  for  their  covering. 

12  Vireton:  "in  ancient  times,  a  cross-bow  shaft,  feathered  spirally  with  thin 
plates  of  wood,  horn,  or  iron,  which  gave  the  shaft  a  rotary  motion  in  the  air" 
(Littre).  Cf.  Handbook  Amer.  Indians,  art.  "Arrows,"  for  illustrations  and 
descriptions  of  Indian  arrows,  etc.  —  ED. 

is  "Two  methods  of  making  fire  were  in  use  among  the  American  aborigines 
at  the  time  of  the  discovery.  The  first  method,  by  flint-and-pyrites  (the  pro- 
genitor of  flint- and-steel)  was  practiced  by  the  Eskimo  and  by  the  northern 
Athapascan  and  Algonquian  tribes  ranging  across  the  continent"  from  Alaska 
to  Newfoundland,  "and  around  the  entire  Arctic  coast,  and  also  throughout  New 
England ;  as  well  as  by  the  tribes  of  the  north  Pacific  coast.  .  .  The  second 
method,  by  reciprocating  motion  of  wood  on  wood  and  igniting  the  ground-off 
particles  through  heat  generated  by  friction,  was  widespread  in  America, 
where  it  was  the  most  valued  as  well  as  the  most  effectual  process  known  to  the 
aborigines.  The  apparatus,  in  its  simplest  form,  consists  of  a  slender  rod  or 
drill  and  a  lower  piece  or  hearth,  near  the  border  of  which  the  drill  is  worked 
by  twisting  between  the  palms,  cutting  a  socket.  From  the  socket  a  narrow  canal 
is  cut  in  the  edge  of  the  hearth,  the  function  of  which  is  to  collect  the  powdered 
wood  ground  off  by  the  friction  of  the  drill,  as  within  this  wood  meal  the  heat 
rises  to  the  ignition  point  This  is  the  simplest  and  the  most  widely  diffused 
type  of  fire-generating  apparatus  known  to  uncivilized  man."  There  are 
various  kinds  of  fire  drill,  containing  considerable  improvements  on  this  simple 


one]  CREATION    BELIEFS  39 

As  hunting  is  not  practicable  in  the  winter  on  account  of 
the  deep  snows,  they  invented  a  sort  of  racket,14  in  order 
to  walk  on  this  with  more  ease;  and  they  constructed 
canoes,  in  order  to  enable  them  to  cross  the  rivers. 

They  relate  also  that  these  men,  formed  as  I  have  told, 
while  hunting  found  the  footprints  of  an  enormously 
tall  man,  followed  by  another  that  was  smaller.  They 
went  on  into  his  territory,  following  up  this  trail  very 
needfully,  and  saw  in  the  distance  a  large  cabin;  when 
they  reached  it,  they  were  astonished  at  seeing  there  the 
feet  and  legs  of  a  man  so  tall  that  they  could  not  descry 
his  head;  that  inspired  terror  in  them,  and  constrained 
them  to  retreat.  This  great  colossus,  having  wakened, 
cast  his  eyes  on  a  freshly-made  track,  and  this  induced 
him  to  step  toward  it;  he  immediately  saw  the  man  who 
had  discovered  him,  whom  fear  had  driven  to  hide  him- 
self in  a  thicket,  where  he  was  trembling  with  dread. 
The  giant  said  to  him,  "My  son,  why  art  thou  afraid? 
Reassure  thyself;  I  am  the  Great  Hare,  he  who  has 
caused  thee  and  many  others  to  be  born  from  the  dead 
bodies  of  various  animals.  Now  I  will  give  thee  a  com- 
panion." Here  are  the  words  that  he  used  in  giving  the 
man  a  wife:  "Thou,  man,"  said  he,  "shalt  hunt,  and 

original  type.  "Fire-making  formed  an  important  feature  of  a  number  of 
ceremonies.  .  .  There  are  also  many  legends  and  myths  grouped  about  the 
primitive  method  of  obtaining  fire  at  will.  .  .  On  the  introduction  of  flint- 
and-steel  and  matches  the  art  of  fire-making  by  the  old  methods  speedily  fell 
into  disuse  among  most  tribes  and  was  perpetuated  only  for  procuring  the  new 
fire  demanded  by  religious  rites.  .  .  Consult  Dixon  in  Bulletin  Amer.  Mus- 
eum Nat.  History,  vol.  xvii,  part  3,  1905 ;  and  Hough  in  Kept.  National  Museum, 
1888  and  1890."  — WALTER  HOUGH,  in  Handbook  Amer.  Indians,  art.  "Fire- 
making." 

14 The  racket  (Fr.  raquette)  used  in  tennis  and  other  European  ball-games; 
here  very  naturally  applied,  on  account  of  its  similar  construction,  to  the 
aboriginal  snowshoe.  The  latter  was  in  use  everywhere  by  the  northern  tribes 
of  America,  and  has  been  adopted  by  the  white  men  of  Canada  and  the  United 
States  in  those  regions  where  snows  abound.  See  descriptions  of  snowshoes,  in 
Lafitau's  Mceurs  des  sauvages,  vol.  ii,  220-223 ;  and  Schoolcraft's  Ind.  Tribes, 
vol.  iii,  68  (with  illustrations).  -  ED. 


40  NICOLAS   PERROT  [Vol. 

make  canoes,  and  do  all  things  that  a  man  must  do ;  and 
thou,  woman,  shalt  do  the  cooking  for  thy  husband,  make 
his  shoes,  dress  the  skins  of  animals,  sew,  and  perform 
all  the  tasks  that  are  proper  for  a  woman."  Such  is  the 
belief  of  these  peoples  in  regard  to  the  creation  of  man ; 
it  is  based  only  upon  the  most  ridiculous  and  extravagant 
notions  -  to  which,  however,  they  give  credence  as  if  they 
were  incontestable  truths,  although  shame  hinders  them 
from  making  these  stories  known.15 

15  "The  Montagnais  assigned  quite  another  origin  to  the  human  race:  man, 
they  said,  was  born  from  Messou  and  a  female  muskrat  (Relations  —  of  1633; 
of  1634,  chap.  iv).  The  Hurons  did  not  suppose  that  our  sublunary  race  had 
been  the  object  of  a  creation  properly  so  termed ;  they  believed  that  above  the 
sky  had  existed  from  all  time  a  world  similar  to  ours,  peopled  by  men  such  as 
we.  One  day  a  woman,  named  Ataentsic,  fell  or  threw  herself  from  it,  through 
a  chasm  which  opened  under  her  feet.  At  that  period  our  earth  was  not  yet  in 
existence,  and  everywhere,  in  place  of  it,  extended  an  ocean  without  limits. 
The  turtle,  seeing  Ataentsic  fall,  invited  all  the  other  aquatic  animals  to  con- 
struct an  island  on  which  to  receive  her,  and  even  offered  to  carry  upon  its  own 
back  this  island  which  they  were  going  to  form.  Ataentsic  was  not  hurt  by 
her  fall,  and  in  the  refuge  which  had  been  prepared  for  her  gave  birth  to  twin 
boys,  whom  she  called  Tawiscaron  and  Jouskeha.  The  former  was  afterward 
killed  by  the  other,  in  consequence  of  a  dispute  that  arose  between  them.  (Re- 
lations—of 1635;  of  1636,  part  2,  chap,  i.)  The  Iroquois  added  to  this,  that 
the  posterity  of  Jouskeha  did  not  go  beyond  the  third  generation,  a  deluge  having 
entirely  engulfed  them.  In  order  to  repeople  the  earth,  it  was  necessary  to 
change  beasts  into  men.  (Charlevoix,  Nouv.  France,  vol.  iii,  345.)"  But  the 
antiquity  or  the  authenticity  of  these  traditions  should  not  be  accepted  without 
much  reserve;  this  is  also  Charlevoix's  opinion  (ut  supra,  199),  who  is  con- 
sidered a  careful  and  cautious  historian.  This  position  is  supported  by  the 
following  considerations:  The  savages  had  had  more  or  less  intercourse  with 
the  Europeans  during  more  than  a  century  before  the  missionaries  and  Perrot 
studied  their  beliefs;  these  beliefs  were  handed  down  solely  by  oral  tradition 
(Relation  of  1646,  chap,  v),  in  the  absence  of  writing  or  pictures  among  the 
savages;  they  always  have  been  addicted  to  falsehood  and  untruth  (Champlain, 
Voyages,  ed.  1632,  part  i,  125;  Relations  —  of  1634,  chap,  vi;  of  1673,  in  Rela- 
tions inedites,  vol.  i,  119;  and  various  citations  of  similar  import  from  Spanish 
historians,  in  regard  to  the  savages  of  Spanish  America)  ;  they  are  incapable  of 
chronological  calculations  beyond  a  man's  lifetime  (Relation  of  Father  Gravier, 
20,  21 ).  In  the  light  of  these  facts,  it  is  most  probable  that  they  had  been  in- 
fluenced by  European  ideas,  and  had  (perhaps  unconsciously)  incorporated  these 
with  their  genuine  traditions  received  from  their  ancestors.  The  Relation  of 
1637  (chap,  xi)  says  of  the  savages:  "They  vary  so  greatly  in  their  beliefs  that 
one  can  have  no  certain  knowledge  of  what  they  believe."  This  effect  of  inter- 


one] COMMENCEMENT   OF   WARS  41 

III.     Commencement  of  wars  among 
the  savages 

Each  of  these  men  inhabited  a  region  that  belonged  to 
him ;  and  there  they  lived  with  their  wives,  and  grad- 
ually multiplied.  They  lived  in  peace,  until  they  be- 
came very  numerous;  having,  then,  multiplied  in  the 
course  of  time,  they  separated  from  one  another,  in  order 
to  live  in  greater  comfort.  They  became,  in  consequence 
of  this  expansion,  neighbors  to  peoples  who  were  un- 
known to  them,  and  whose  language  they  did  not  under^ 
stand ;  but  the  Great  Hare  had  given  to  each  of  them  a"l 
different  dialect  when  he  drew  them  forth  from  thej 
bodies  of  animals.  Some  of  them  continued  to  live  in 
peace,  but  the  others  began  to  wage  war.  Those  who 
were  weaker  abandoned  their  own  lands,  in  order  to 
escape  from  the  fury  of  their  enemies;  and  they  re- 
treated to  more  distant  places,  where  they  found  tribes 
whom  they  must  again  resist.  Some  devoted  themselves 
to  the  cultivation  of  the  land  and  produced  their  food- 
Indian  corn,  beans,  and  squashes.  Those  who  lived  by 
hunting  were  more  skilful,  and  considered  as  more  war- 
like by  the  others,  who  greatly  feared  and  dreaded  the 
hunters.  However,  neither  class  could  dispense  with  the 
other,  on  account  of  the  necessities  of  life  [which  each 
produced].  It  was  this  which  caused  them  to  live  much 
longer  in  peace ;  for  the  hunter  obtained  his  grain  from 
the  tiller  of  the  soil,  and  the  latter  procured  his  meat 
from  the  hunter.  But  eventually  the  young  men,  through 

course  with  Europeans  upon  the  native  traditions  would  naturally  continue  and 
gradually  develop,  even  to  the  nineteenth  century.  "Now  this  is  precisely  what 
has  occurred.  Today,  the  Outaouais  and  the  other  tribes  of  the  West  (Malou- 
mines,  Sakis,  Renards,  and  Ouinipegs  or  Puans)  cite,  as  belonging  to  their 
primitive  beliefs,  certain  facts  of  which  neither  Perrot  or  the  Jesuit  missionaries 
found,  even  one  hundred  years  ago,  the  slightest  trace  in  the  traditions  of  those 
peoples.  (Annales  de  la  propagation  de  la  Foi,  vol.  iv,  495,  537.)"  — TAILHAN. 


42  NICOLAS    PERROT  [Vol. 

a  certain  arrogance  that  is  native  to  all  the  savages,  and 
no  longer  recognizing  any  chief,  committed  murders 16 
by  stealth,  and  incited  wars  against  their  allies,  who  were 
obliged  to  defend  themselves. 

IV.     First  wars  of  the  Irroquois  who  were 

neighbors  to  the  Algonkins,  with  whom 

they  lived  in  peace;  and  the  occasion 

of  their  war 

The  country  of  the  Irroquois  was  formerly  the  dis- 
trict of  Montreal  and  Three  Rivers;17  they  had  as 

18  "Assassin,  for  assassinat,  recurs  quite  often  from  the  pen  of  Perrot.  This 
expression  was  still  in  use  among  the  French  Canadians  far  into  the  eighteenth 
century."  Instances  are  cited  from  official  documents  printed  in  Dussieux's 
Canada  sous  la  domination  franqaise,  124,  126.  —  TAILHAN. 

17  "Wrong;  they  have  never  been  so  near  neighbors  as  they  are  at  present." 

—  ANON. 

"Bacqueville  de  la  Potherie  says  (Histoire  de  I'Amerique  septentrionale,  vol.  i, 
292),  like  Perrot:  'The  Iroquois  grew  impatient  of  restraint,  and  ...  re- 
turned, in  the  following  spring,  to  their  ancient  domains,  which  were  in  the 
vicinity  of  Montreal  and  along  the  river  on  the  way  up  to  Lake  Frontenac.'  The 
testimony  of  La  Potherie  is  not  to  be  disdained ;  we  know,  through  one  of  his 
contemporaries,  that  he  had  drawn  his  information  from  the  best  sources.  [For 
this]  he  addressed  himself,  by  preference,  to  the  savage  chiefs  in  alliance  with 
France ;  to  Jolliet,  who  discovered  the  Mississippi ;  to  the  Jesuit  fathers ;  and, 
above  all,  to  Nicolas  Perrot,  whose  various  memoirs  he  has  textually  inserted 
in  his  second  volume.  (Cf.  La  Potherie's  Histoire,  vol.  iv,  268,  269.)  Here, 
however,  has  not  La  Potherie,  following  our  author,  confounded  the  Iroquets, 
anciently  dwelling  on  the  island  of  Montreal,  with  the  Iroquois,  changed  into 
Iroqoues  by  the  pronunciation  then  in  use  of  the  diphthong  oi,  of  which  frequent 
examples  are  found  in  Perrot  — as  lllinoetz  for  Illinois,  Amicoues  for  Amicouas 
or  Amiquois  ?"  —  TAILHAN. 

The  memoirs  of  Perrot  above  referred  to  as  published  by  La  Potherie  are 
translated,  in  large  part,  in  these  volumes,  immediately  following  the  present 
text  of  Perrot.  As  for  the  Iroquets,  they  were  an  Algonquian  tribe,  named  for 
their  chief,  who  aided  Champlain  in  his  expeditions  against  the  Iroquois  (1609 
and  1615)  ;  they  were  then  living  between  the  present  Kingston  and  Ottawa. 
Formerly  they  had  lived  (1500-1530)  on  Montreal  Island,  but  were  driven  out 
by  the  Iroquois  and  most  of  them  adopted  into  the  ranks  of  their  conquerors. 
For  history  of  this  tribe,  and  sketch  of  changes  in  tribal  supremacy  on  the  St. 
Lawrence,  see  Jesuit  Relations  (Cleveland,  1896-1901),  vol.  v,  288-290;  cf. 
other  references  found  in  index  to  that  work.  —  ED. 


one]  FIRST  WARS  OF  THE   IROQUOIS  43 

neighbors  the  Algonkins,*who  lived  along  the  river  of 
the  Outaoiias,  at  Nepissing,  on  the  French  River,  and 
between  this  last  and  Taronto.  The  Irroquois  were  not 
hunters ;  they  cultivated  the  soil,  and  lived  on  the  roots 
which  it  produced  and  the  grain  which  they  planted. 
The  Algonkins,  on  the  contrary,  supported  themselves  by 
their  hunting  alone,  despising  agriculture  as  a  pursuit 
little  suited  to  their  ambitious  pride,  and  regarding  it 
as  infinitely  beneath  them -so  that  the  Irroquois  were 
regarded  in  a  certain  sense  as  their  vassals.  That  did  not 
hinder  them  from  trading  together;  the  Irroquois 
carried  to  them  grain,  in  exchange  for  the  dried  meat 
and  skins  which  the  former  obtained  from  the  Algon- 
kins. The  Irroquois,  as  being  much  less  warlike,  could 
not  avoid  living  with  them  on  that  footing;  and  it  was 
necessary  that  there  should  be  on  their  side  apparent 
submission  to  the  will  of  the  Algonkins. 

Once  it  happened,  during  the  peace  that  reigned  be- 
tween these  peoples,  that  the  Algonkins  sent  word  to  the 
Irroquois  of  the  village  nearest  them  that  the  latter 
should  go  to  spend  the  winter  among  them;  and  that 
during  the  winter  they  would  supply  their  guests  with 
fresh  meat,  which  made  better  soup  than  the  dried  meat, 
of  which  the  principal  flavor  was  that  of  the  smoke. 
The  Irroquois  accepted  the  offer  made  to  them.  When 
the  season  permitted,  they  [all]  set  out  on  a  hunting  trip, 
and  wandered  far  into  the  forests,  where  they  succeeded 
in  killing  all  the  beasts  that  they  encountered  within  the 

*  Algonkins  (or  Algonquins)  :  a  name  originally  applied  to  a  small  tribe 
living  on  the  Gatineau  River,  east  of  Ottawa,  Que. ;  but  later  it  was  extended 
to  various  other  tribes  of  the  same  stock,  living  on  the  upper  Ottawa  River  and 
the  shores  of  Georgian  Bay  and  Lake  Huron,  as  far  as  Sault  Ste.  Marie.  Some 
of  these  peoples  were  driven  by  Iroquois  incursions  to  Mackinaw  and  westward, 
and  became  consolidated  into  the  tribe  now  known  as  the  Ottawa.  From  the 
name  Algonkin  is  derived  "Algonquian,"  the  appellation  of  the  ethnic  stock  and 
linguistic  family  most  widely  diffused  in  all  North  America.  -  JAMES  MOONEY 
and  CYRUS  THOMAS,  in  Handbook  Amer.  Indians. 


44  NICOLAS    PERROT  [Vol. 

limits  of  the  places  where  they  could  hunt  in  their  vicin- 
ity; then  they  lacked  provisions,  and  were  obliged  to 
break  camp  and  go  farther  in  search  of  game.  But  as 
the  savages  can  accomplish  only  a  very  short  march  in 
a  day -because  they  have  to  carry  with  them  their  cabins, 
their  children,  and  whatever  is  necessary  to  them,  when 
they  shift  their  quarters  for  hunting -the  Algonkins 
chose  from  their  best  hunters  six  young  men  to  go  to  kill 
game  for  the  coming  of  the  people  from  both  villages ; 
and  the  Irroquois  engaged  to  add  to  these  six  of  their 
men,  who  should  share  the  game  which  all  together 
killed,  and  who  should  go  ahead  of  the  two  tribes,  with 
their  meat.  When  these  twelve  young  men  reached  a 
place  where  there  were  indications  of  game,  some  occu- 
pied themselves  in  making  camp,  while  the  others 
worked  at  clearing  away  the  snow-drifts  and  looking  for 
the  elk-yards.18  Having  found  these,  they  returned  to 
their  companions ;  and,  confident  in  their  skill  and  expe- 
rience in  hunting,  they  agreed  together  that  each  Algon- 
kin  should  be  accompanied  by  an  Irroquois  when  the 
animals  were  skinned,  and  that  the  meat  of  these,  with 
the  hides,  should  be  carried  to  the  camp. 

On  the  next  day,  the  Algonkins,  each  with  an  Irro- 
quois, went  out  in  various  directions;  they  found  many 
moose,  which  they  failed  to  secure  because  at  that  time 
they  used  only  arrows ;  and  they  were  obliged  to  return 

18  French,  ravages,  referring  to  the  gnawed  or  broken  branches  where  the 
elk  have  fed.  Both  the  moose  and  the  caribou  in  winter,  when  the  snows  are 
deep,  collect  in  small  bands  and  form  "yards."  They  tramp  down  the  snow  to 
make  a  hard  floor,  leaving  it  surrounded  by  a  vertical  wall  of  untrodden  snow. 
They  make  it  in  a  dense  thicket,  with  abundance  of  shrubbery  yielding  the 
favorite  food ;  and  from  the  shrubs  they  bite  the  twigs  and  strip  off  the  bark, 
even  that  of  the  large  trees  as  far  up  as  they  can  reach.  When  all  the  food  in 
this  yard  is  consumed,  they  make  another,  in  some  place  where  a  fresh  supply  of 
food  may  be  found.  See  descriptions  of  these  yards  and  their  formation,  in 
Canada  Naturalist  and  Geologist  (Montreal,  1857),  v°l-  '»  64,  65;  and  J.  D. 
Caton's  Antelope  and  Deer  of  America  (New  York,  2nd  ed. ;  1881?),  349.  _ ED. 


one]  FIRST  WARS  OF  THE   IROQUOIS  45 

to  camp  without  having  obtained  any  game.  They  went 
again  to  that  place  on  the  following  day,  but  had  no  bet- 
ter success.  But  the  Irroquois,  who  were  careful  to  re- 
member the  manner  in  which  the  Algonkins  made  their 
approaches  [on  the  game],  demanded  their  consent  to 
go  and  hunt  by  themselves.  The  Algonkins  replied  very 
haughtily  that  they  were  astounded  that  the  Irroquois 
should  presume  to  expect  that  they  could  kill  beasts,  since 
the  Algonkins  themselves  had  not  been  able  to  do  so. 
But  the  Irroquois,  without  consulting  them  further  on 
this  point,  set  out  on  the  morrow  to  do  their  own  hunting, 
without  the  Algonkins;  and  finally  arrived  at  their 
camp,  laden  with  meat.  The  others,  who  had  accom- 
plished nothing,  when  they  saw  that  those  whom  they 
had  despised  now  had  the  advantage,  resolved  to  take 
their  lives,  and  did  so;  for  one  day,  when  the  Irroquois 
were  asleep,  the  Algonkins  murdered  them,  and  covered 
up  their  bodies  with  snow.  As  for  the  meat,  they  dried 
it,  that  it  might  be  less  heavy  to  carry,  and  went  to  meet 
their  people.  When  they  were  asked  what  had  become 
of  their  companions,  they  replied  that  the  latter  were  all 
lost  in  the  icy  waters  of  a  river  which  they  had  passed; 
and,  in  order  to  give  more  color  to  this  falsehood,  they 
broke  a  hole  in  a  large  ice-field  in  order  to  show  inquir- 
ers the  place  where  these  men  had  been  drowned.  The 
Algonkins  made  a  liberal  division  of  the  meat,  and  gave 
the  greater  part  of  it  to  the  Irroquois.  They  encamped 
all  together  in  that  locality,  and  spent  the  rest  of  the 
winter  there  in  hunting,  without  any  tidings  of  the  mur- 
der which  had  been  committed  there. 

When  the  snows  began  to  melt  toward  spring,  the 
bodies  of  those  dead  men  caused  an  insupportable  stench 
in  the  camp,  which  led  to  the  discovery  of  the  murders. 
The  Irroquois  made  complaint  of  the  crime  to  the  chief 


46  NICOLAS    PERROT  [Vol. 

of  the  Algonkins,  who  rendered  them  no  justice  there- 
for; but  with  a  threatening  countenance  he  told  them 
that  he  was  very  near  driving  them  out  of  their  own 
country,  and  even  entirely  exterminating  them,  and  that 
it  was  only  through  pity  and  compassion  that  he  spared 
their  lives.  The  Irroquois  decided  to  retire  quietly, 
without  making  any  answer  to  this  speech  of  the  Algon- 
kin  chief;  but  they  immediately  sent  information  to  the 
[other]  Irroquois  allied  to  them  of  the  threats  which 
had  just  been  made  against  them,  and  of  the  murder 
that  had  been  committed.  They  then  resolved  to  take 
vengeance,  and  not  long  afterward  they  broke  the  heads 
of  some  Algonkins  whom  they  met  in  a  lonely  place. 
But,  not  being  able  to  avert  the  consequences  which  this 
deed  drew  upon  them  from  the  Algonkins,  those  Irro- 
quois departed  [from  the  Algonkins] ,  and  fled  for  refuge 
toward  Lake  Erien  [i.  e.,  Erie],  where  the  Chaoiianons 19 
dwelt;  these  made  war  on  the  Irroquois,  and  compelled 
them  to  go  to  settle  along  Lake  Ontario,  which  is  now 
called  Lake  Frontenac.  After  having  maintained  dur- 
ing several  years  a  war  against  the  Chaoiianons  and  their 
allies,  the  Irroquois  took  refuge  in  Carolina,20  where 
they  are  at  this  time.  All  these  hostilities  were  very  use- 
ful in  accustoming  the  Irroquois  to  war,  and  rendering 
them  able  to  fight  with  the  Algonkins,  who  before  that 

19  Chaoiianons:  the  French  form  of  the  English  appellation  Shawnees.    When 
first  known  by  the  latter  people,  this  tribe  were  living  in  Kentucky;  later,  they 
made  frequent  migrations—  across  the  mountains  into  Virginia  and  the  Carolinas; 
then   (about  1683)    into  Ohio;    and,  some  fifteen  years  later,  to  Pennsylvania. 
By  the  middle  of  the  eighteenth  century,  most  of  them  were  in  Ohio ;  and  about 
1832  they  were  removed  by  the  Federal  government  to  a  reservation  in  Kansas. 
The  Shawnee   dialect  seems  to  have  reached   a  high  development,   advanced 
beyond  other  Algonquian  tongues.  —  ED. 

20  "Since  they  [the  Iroquois]  have  approached  Lake  Ontario,  they  have  not 
returned  to  the  South."  —  ANON. 

"This  criticism  is  entirely  justified;  it  was,  in  fact,  the  Chaouanons  who, 
conquered  by  the  Iroquois,  took  refuge  in  Carolina,  as  Perrot  himself  affirms  a 
little  farther  on."  -  TAILHAN. 


one]  SUPERSTITIONS  47 

time  carried  terror  among  them.  They  have  completed 
the  destruction  of  the  Algonkins,  and  many  other  tribes 
have  proved  the  valor  of  these  redoubtable  enemies,  who 
have  compelled  those  peoples  to  abandon  their  own 
lands.21 

V.     Religion,  or  rather  superstition,  of 
the  savage  tribes 

It  cannot  be  said  that  the  savages  profess  any  doc- 
trine; and  it  is  certain  that  they  do  not,  so  to  speak, 
follow  any  religion.22  They  only  observe  some  Jewish 

21  "Charlevoix  and  La  Potherie  reproduce,  in  abridged  form,  the  narrative 
of  Perrot.     The  former  remarks,  with  good  reason,  that  of  all  the  primitive 
history  of  the  Iroquois  and  Algonquins  this  event  is  the  only  one  the  account  of 
which  has  come  down  to  us  clothed  with  some  probability  —  let  us  add,  and  the 
only  one  of  which  we  have  knowledge.     Charlevoix  does  not  venture  to  deter- 
mine its  time,  but  he  supposes  it  to  be  not  very  remote.     A  passage  from  the 
Relation  of  1660  (chap,  ii)  leads  me  to  believe  that  this  strife  broke  out  in  the 
second  half  of  the  sixteenth  century,  and  that  it  occurred  chiefly  between  the 
Agniers  and  the  Algonquins.     Every  one  knows  that  the  Iroquois  confederation 
was  composed  of  the  following  five  tribes:  the  Agniers  (Mohawks,  of  the  Eng- 
lish), the  Onneyouts  (Oneidas),  the  Onontagues  (Onondagas),  the  Goyogouins 
(Cayugas),  and  the Tsonnontouans  (Senecas).    Cf.  Charlevoix's  Histoire,  vol.  iii, 
199;  La  Potherie's  Histoire,  vol.  i,  289;  and  Ferland's  Cours  d'histoire  du  Can- 
ada, vol.  i,  94."  —  TAILHAN. 

22  "The  earliest  and  most  trustworthy  writers  of  New  France  are,  in  regard 
to  the  absence  of  all  that  is  properly  called  religion  among  the  diverse  peoples 
of  this  region,  entirely  in  accord  with  our  author.     'There  is  no  law  among 
them,  and  they  do  not  know  what  it  is  to  adore  God  and  to  pray  to  him,  living 
like  the  brute  beasts.'     (Champlain,  Voyages,  126.)"     (Similar  opinions  may  be 
found  in  Biard's  Relation,  chap,  viii;  Relation  of  1626;  id.  of  1648,  chap,  xvi; 
Lett,  edif.,  vol.  vi,  330,  and  vii,  6.)     "Among  the  savages  who  had  any  religion, 
it  was  only  a  coarse  fetichism,  the  practices  of  which  were  most  commonly 
reduced  to  dances,  fastings,  and  feasts;   and  these  were  in  almost  every  case 
regulated  by  the  dream,  interpreted  by  the  sorcerers  of  the  tribe."     More  de- 
tailed accounts  of  the  superstitions  of  the  savages  are  given  in  the  relations  of 
the  missionaries,  as  noted  in  the  following  references:    The  religious  ideas  of 
the  natives  of  Acadia  are  described  in  Biard's  Relation ;  of  the  lower  Algonquins 
[i.e.,  those  on  the  St.  Lawrence  River],  in  the  Relation  of  1634  (chap,  iv)  ;  of  the 
Outaouais,  in  the  Relation  of  1667  (chap,  v),  and  in  a  letter  of  Father  Rasles 
(Lett,  edif.,  vol.  vi,  173)  ;  of  the  Hurons  and  Iroquois  in  the  Relations  of  1636 
(chap,  iii),  1648  (chaps,  xii-xvi),  and  1670  (chap,  ix)  ;  of  the  Kilistinons  and 


48  NICOLAS   PERROT  [Vol. 

customs,23  for  they  have  certain  feasts  at  which  they 
make  no  use  of  a  knife  for  cutting  their  cooked  meat, 
which  they  devour  with  their  teeth.  The  women  have 
also  a  custom,  when  they  bring  their  children  into  the 
world,  of  spending  a  month  without  entering  the  hus- 
band's cabin ;  and  during  all  that  time  they  cannot  even 
eat  there  with  the  men,  or  eat  food  which  has  been  pre- 
pared by  men's  hands.  It  is  for  this  reason  that  the 
women  cook  their  own  food  separately.24 

The  savages -I  mean  those  who  are  not  converted  [to 
Christianity]  -recognize  as  principal  divinities  only  the 
Great  Hare,  the  sun,  and  the  devils.  They  oftenest  in- 
voke the  Great  Hare,  because  they  revere  and  adore  him 
as  the  creator  of  the  world;  they  reverence  the  sun  as 
the  author  of  light;  but  if  they  place  the  devils  among 
their  divinities,  and  invoke  them,  it  is  because  they  are 
afraid  of  them,  and  in  the  invocations  which  they  make 

Sauteurs,  in  the  Relations  of  1667  (chap,  xiii),  and  1670  (chap,  x)  ;  of  the 
Maloumines,  or  Wild  Oats  tribe,  in  the  Relation  of  1674  (in  Relations  inedites, 
vol.  i,  224)  ;  of  the  peoples  who  dwelt  at  the  head  of  Green  Bay,  or  Bay  of  the 
Puants,  in  the  Relation  of  1672  (chap,  ii)  ;  of  the  Illinois,  in  the  Relation  of 
1671  (chap,  iv),  and  a  letter  of  Father  Marest  (Lett,  edif.,  vol.  vi,  330)  ;  and, 
finally,  of  the  Miamis,  in  a  letter  of  Father  Beschefer  (then  unpublished,  dated 
Oct.  21,  1683,  from  which  a  short  extract  is  given).  "If  any  reader  is  surprised 
at  the  silence  maintained  by  Perrot  in  regard  to  the  belief  of  the  savages  in  a 
supreme  God  or  Great  Spirit,  I  would  remind  him  that  the  Outaouais,  according 
to  the  testimony  of  Father  Allouez  (who  had  long  been  associated  with  them), 
'did  not  recognize  any  sovereign  ruler  of  heaven  and  earth'  (Relation  of  1667, 
chap.  v).  Now  it  is  the  Outaouais  to  whom  Perrot  specially  devotes  himself  in 
this  part  of  his  memoir."  These  citations  are  fortified  by  others  from  mis- 
sionaries among  the  tribes  in  Spanish  America.  Other  accounts  of  the  religion 
of  the  Canadian  savages  may  be  found  in  Charlevoix's  Histoire,  vol.  iii,  343  ff., 
and  in  Ferland's  Cours  d'histoire,  vol.  i,  97  ff.  —  TAILHAN. 

The  letter  by  Beschefer  above  mentioned  is  published  in  the  Jesuit  Relations, 
vol.  Ixii ;  Tailhan's  citation  is  on  pages  204-207,  the  paragraph  relating  to  the 
superstitions  of  the  Miamis.  —  ED. 

23  "On  the  so-called  judaical  customs,   see  Charlevoix's  Histoire,  vol.   iii, 
349."  -  TAILHAN. 

24  For  superstitious  beliefs  of  the  aborigines  regarding  menstruation,  barren- 
ness, and  childbirth,  see  Jesuit  Relations,  vol.  iii,  105,  vol.  ix,  in,  119,  123,  308, 
309,  vol.  xiii,  261,  vol.  xv,  181,  249,  vol.  xvii,  213,  vol.  xxix,  109.  —  ED. 


one]  SUPERSTITIONS  49 

to  the  devils  they  entreat  them  for  [the  means  of]  life. 
Those  among  the  savages  whom  the  French  call  "jug- 
glers" talk  with  the  demon,  whom  they  consult  for 
[success  in]  war  and  hunting. 

They  have  also  many  other  divinities,  to  whom  they 
pray,  and  whom  they  recognize  as  such,  in  the  air,  on  the 
land,  and  within  the  earth.  Those  of  the  air  are  the 
thunder,  the  lightning,  and  in  general  whatever  they  see 
in  the  air  that  they  cannot  understand -as  the  moon, 
eclipses,  and  extraordinary  whirlwinds.  Those  which 
are  upon  the  land  comprise  all  creatures  that  are  malign 
and  noxious -especially  serpents,  panthers,  and  other 
animals,  and  birds  like  griffins;  they  also  include  in  this 
class  such  creatures  as  have,  according  to  their  kind,  un- 
usual beauty  or  deformity.  Lastly,  those  that  are  within 
the  earth,  [especially]  the  bears,  who  pass  the  winter 
without  eating,  and  are  nourished  only  by  the  substance 
which  they  obtain  from  their  own  navels,  by  sucking;25 
the  savages  pay  the  same  regard  to  all  the  animals  that 
dwell  in  caves,  or  in  holes  in  the  ground,  and  invoke 
these  whenever  they  have,  while  asleep,  dreamed  of  any 
of  these  creatures. 

For  invocations  of  this  sort,  they  make  a  feast  with 
victuals  or  with  tobacco,  to  which  the  old  men  are  in- 
vited ;  and  in  the  presence  of  these  they  declare  the  dream 
which  they  had  when  they  promised  this  feast  to  him  of 
whom  they  had  dreamed.  Then  one  of  the  old  men 
makes  a  speech,  and,  naming  the  creature  to  whom  the 
feast  is  dedicated,  addresses  to  it  the  following  words: 
"Have  pity,"  he  says,  "on  him  who  offers  to  thee"  (and 
here  he  names  each  article  of  food)  ;  "have  pity  on  his 

25  "It  is  because  they  are  so  fat,  that  they  do  not  need  to  eat;  the  woodchucks 
and  the  whistling  marmots  do  not  eat,  any  more  than  the  bear."  — ANON. 

The  above-mentioned  animals  are,  respectively,  Arctomys  monax  and  A. 
Pruinosus.  —  ED. 


5o  NICOLAS    PERROT  [Vol. 

family,  and  grant  him  what  he  needs."  All  those  who 
are  present  respond  with  one  voice,  "O!  O!"  many  times, 
until  the  prayer  is  ended;  and  this  word  "O!"  means 
among  them  the  same  as  "Be  it  so!"  [Eng.  "Amen!"] 
among  us.  There  are  tribes  who,  in  this  sort  of  solemni- 
ties, oblige  the  guests  to  eat  everything;  other  tribes  do 
not  thus  compel  you,  but  you  eat  what  you  wish  to,  and 
carry  the  rest  to  your  home. 

Other  feasts  are  made  among  these  savages  in  which 
a  sort  of  adoration  is  practiced,  by  not  only  consecrating 
to  the  pretended  divinity  the  viands  of  the  feast,  but  lay- 
ing at  his  feet  the  contents  of  a  leather  pouch  which  they 
call  their  "warrior's  pouch,"  or,  in  their  language,  their 
Pindikossan ; 26  in  this  will  be  found  the  skins  of  owls,  of 

26  See  description  of  a  medicine-pouch  in  Le  Clercq's  Relation  de  Gaspesie, 
346-349  (translated  in  Jesuit  Relations,  vol.  xxii,  317,  318)  ;  cf.  the  latter  work, 
vol.  Ixviii,  151,  153;  there  are  also  various  references  to  the  personal  manitou 
or  fetich  — vol.  xii,  15,  vol.  xxxi,  191,  vol.  Ixi,  149  (its  form  determined  by 
dreams),  vol.  Ixvi,  233,  vol.  Ixvii,  159,  161,  vol.  Ixviii,  147  (manitou  of  war- 
riors), etc.  In  the  State  Historical  Museum  of  Wisconsin  is  an  interesting 
specimen  of  the  medicine-pouches  used  by  shamans;  it  is  perhaps  a  half-century 
old,  and  formerly  belonged  to  an  old  shaman  of  the  Winnebago  tribe  in  Wis- 
consin. It  is  made  of  buffalo-skin,  with  the  hair  outside,  and  is  tied  with  cords 
of  hide;  the  size  is  about  eighteen  by  twelve  inches.  It  contains  an  otter-skin, 
tanned,  and  painted  red  and  yellow,  on  which  the  head,  tail,  and  ends  of  paws 
are  carefully  preserved;  a  pair  of  small  gourd  rattles;  a  white  weasel-skin, 
with  the  hair  on;  a  little  bundle  of  tiny  bows  and  arrows;  a  bone  musical  instru- 
ment resembling  a  flageolet,  with  incised  ornaments  on  the  surface,  and  attached 
to  a  stick  that  is  trimmed  with  tufts  of  horsehair,  feathers,  etc. ;  a  section  of 
some  animal's  bone,  also  incised  on  the  surface,  and  adorned  with  small  brass 
hawk's-bells,  strips  of  rabbit's  skin,  etc.;  a  medicine-tube  or  cupper,  made  of 
the  end  of  a  horn,  used  to  suck  out  evil  spirits,  etc. ;  and  another  small  horn,  with 
lines  cut  around  it  at  regular  intervals,  resembling  the  "graduate"  of  a  modern 
pharmacist.  All  these  articles  were  used  by  the  shaman  in  his  medical  prac- 
tice, and  all  were  regarded  and  styled  "sacred."  One  of  the  skins  was  probably 
his  personal  manitou. 

In  Perrot's  text  occurs  the  word  foignes,  which  appears  to  be  a  copyist's  error, 
as  it  is  not  contained  in  the  dictionaries;  the  original  word  was  probably  cygnes, 
and  it  has  accordingly  been  translated  "swans."  Several  species  of  swan 
(Cygnus)  were  found  at  that  time  about  the  great  lakes  and  in  the  Mississippi 
Valley. 

The  Relation  of  1661-1662  mentions  (page  n)  among  the  birds  of  southern 


one]  SUPERSTITIONS  51 

snakes,  of  white  swans,  of  perroquets  and  magpies,  or  of 
other  animals  that  are  very  rare.  They  also  carry  therein 
roots  or  powders  which  serve  them  as  medicines.  Be- 
fore the  feast,  they  always  fast,  neither  eating  nor  drink- 
ing until  they  have  had  a  dream;  and  during  their  fast 
they  blacken  their  faces,  shoulders,  and  breasts  with 
coals;  however,  they  smoke  tobacco.  The  assertion  is 
made  (but  it  seems  incredible)  that  there  are  some  of 
them  who  have  fasted  as  long  as  twelve  consecutive  days, 
and  others  for  less.27  If  the  dream  which  they  have  had 

United  States  "little  paroquets,  which  are  so  numerous  that  we  have  seen  some 
of  our  Iroquois  return  from  those  countries  with  scarfs  and  belts  which  they  had 
made  from  these  birds  by  a  process  of  interweaving."  This  reminds  us  of  the 
feather  ornaments  and  mantles  of  the  Aztecs  and  Hawaiians.  O.  T.  Mason 
says  (Handbook  Amer.  Indians,  art.  "Feather-work") :  "The  feathers  of  birds 
entered  largely  into  the  industries,  decorations,  war,  and  worship  of  the  In- 
dians. .  .  The  prominent  species  in  every  area  were  used.  .  .  The  most 
striking  uses  of  feathers  were  in  connection  with  social  customs  and  in  symbol- 
ism. .  .  The  downy  feather  was  to  the  mind  of  the  Indian  a  kind  of  bridge 
between  the  spirit  world  and  ours.  Creation  and  other  myths  spring  out  of 
feathers.  Feather  technic  in  its  highest  development  belongs  to  South  America, 
Central  America,  and  Polynesia,  but  there  is  continuity  in  the  processes  from  the 
northern  part  of  America  southward."—  ED. 

27  "What  Perrot  says  here  of  the  influence  of  dreams  on  the  decisions  to  be 
made  by  the  savages  when  there  was  question  of  war,  hunting,  or  sickness,  cannot 
give  the  reader  an  adequate  idea  of  the  force  and  extent  of  this  superstition. 
Everything  was  permitted,  when  there  was  a  question  of  procuring  the  ac- 
complishment of  dreams.  For  example:  an  Iroquois  had  dreamed  that  he  was 
captured  by  enemies,  and  bound  to  a  stake  in  order  to  be  burned  alive;  on 
awaking,  he  hastened  to  assemble  his  best  friends,  and  caused  himself  to  be 
cruelly  tormented  —  in  order  that,  the  dream  being  partially  verified  in  time  of 
peace,  he  need  no  longer  dread  its  full  realization  in  time  of  war.  On  dreams, 
their  origin  according  to  the  savages,  and  the  superstitions  to  which  they  gave 
rise,  the  reader  can  consult  Champlain  (Voyages,  book  3,  chap,  v)  ;  and  the 
Relations-of  1648  (chap,  xii),  of  1633,  of  1636  (chap,  ii  and  iii),  of  1642 
(chap,  x),  of  1662  (chap,  iv),  of  1670  (chap,  vii),  of  1656  (chap,  ix),  of  1671 
(chap,  iii),  of  1672  (chap.  ii).  As  for  the  fastings  of  the  savages,  the  special 
circumstances  in  which  they  imposed  these  on  themselves,  and  the  ceremonies 
with  which  they  were  accompanied,  cf.  Relations-of  1634  (chap,  iii),  of  1667 
•  (chap,  v  and  xi),  of  1672  (chap,  ii),  of  1673  (in  Rel.  ined.,  vol.  i,  chap,  i)." 

_  TAILHAN. 

"Most  revelations  of  what  was  regarded  by  the  Indians  as  coming  from  the 
supernatural  powers  were  believed  to  be  received  in  dreams  and  visions. 
Through  them  were  bestowed  on  man  magical  abilities  and  the  capacity  to 


52  NICOLAS   PERROT  [Vol. 

is  about  a  divinity  which  is  either  upon  or  within  the 
ground,  they  continue  to  blacken  themselves  with  coals, 
as  has  been  stated;  but  if  it  is  about  the  Great  Hare,  or 
the  spirits  of  the  air,  they  wash  themselves,  and  then 
smear  the  skin  with  black  dirt,  and  in  the  evening  begin 
the  solemnity  of  the  feast. 

The  person  who  offers  it  invites  two  companions  to 
attend  this  entertainment;  and  they  must  sing  with  him, 
in  order  to  incline  toward  him  the  divinity  of  whom  he 
has  dreamed,  and  who  is  the  occasion  of  this  ceremony. 
Formerly,  when  they  had  no  guns,  they  uttered  as  many 
loud  cries  as  there  were  large  kettles  on  the  fire  for 
cooking  the  food.  Afterward,  he  who  gives  the  feast 
begins  to  sing,  in  concert  with  his  two  assistants,  who 
are  painted28  with  vermilion  or  with  a  red  dye.  This 

foresee  future  events,  to  control  disease,  and  to  become  able  to  fill  the  office  of 
priest  or  of  leader.  It  was  the  common  belief  of  the  Indians  that  these  dreams 
or  visions  must  be  sought  through  the  observance  of  some  rite  involving  more 
or  less  personal  privation.  .  .  In  general  the  initiation  of  a  man's  personal 
relations  to  the  unseen  through  dreams  and  visions  took  place  during  the  fast 
which  occurred  at  puberty,  and  the  thing  seen  at  that  time  became  the  medium 
of  supernatural  help  and  knowledge,  and  in  some  tribes  determined  his  affilia- 
tions. It  was  his  sacred  object  .  .  Any  dream  of  ordinary  sleep  in  which 
this  object  appeared  had  meaning  for  him  and  its  suggestions  were  heed- 
ed. .  .  The  dreams  of  a  man  filling  an  important  position,  as  the  leader  of  a 
war  party,  were  often  regarded  as  significant,  especially  if  he  had  carried  with 
him  some  one  of  the  sacred  tribal  objects  as  a  medium  of  supernatural  communi- 
cation. This  object  was  supposed  to  speak  to  him  in  dreams  and  give  him 
directions  which  would  insure  safety  and  success.  .  .  The  general  belief 
concerning  dreams  and  visions  seems  to  have  been  that  the  mental  images  seen 
with  closed  eyes  were  not  fancies  but  actual  glimpses  of  the  unseen  world  where 
dwelt  the  generic  types  of  all  things,  and  where  all  events  that  were  to  take 
place  in  the  visible  world  were  determined  and  prefigured." 

—  ALICE  C.  FLETCHER,  in  Handbook  Amer.  Indians. 

28  "Mattac hez,  painted  or  variegated  with  one  or  more  colors;  we  find  also 
matachez  and  matachiez.  'My  fourteenth  [speech,  with  accompanying  present] 
was  for  painting  \malachier\  his  face;  for  it  is  here  the  custom  never  to  go  to 
battle  without  having  the  face  painted,  some  with  black,  some  with  red,  some 
with  various  other  colors  — each  one  possessing  therein  a  special  livery,  as  it 
were;  and  to  these  they  adhere  even  unto  death'  (Relation  of  1634).  'A  skin 
matachee  is  a  skin  painted  by  the  savages  in  different  colors,  and  on  which  they 


one]  SUPERSTITIONS  53 

song  is  offered  solely  in  honor  of  the  divinity  of  whom 
the  man  has  dreamed ;  for  each  creature,  animate  or  in- 
animate, has  its  own  special  song.  They  continue  dur- 
ing the  evening  to  sing  all  the  songs  that  belong  to  their 
other  pretended  divinities,  until  all  the  guests  are  as- 
sembled. When  every  one  has  arrived,  the  host  alone 
recommences  the  song  which  is  peculiar  to  the  divinity 
of  his  dream. 

This  feast  is  one  of  dog's  flesh,  which  [among  them] 
is  ranked  as  the  principal  and  most  esteemed  of  all 
viands;29  and  they  serve  with  it  several  meats,  as  the 
flesh  of  the  bear,  the  elk,  or  any  other  large  game.  If 
they  have  none  of  these,  they  supply  its  place  with  In- 
dian corn,  which  they  season  with  grease  and  then  pour 
it  out  on  the  plate  of  each  guest.  You  will  note  that,  in 
order  to  render  this  repast  a  solemn  one,  there  must  be  a 
dog,  whose  head  is  presented  to  the  most  prominent  war- 
chief,  and  the  other  parts  are  given  to  the  warriors. 
When  the  food  is  cooked,  the  kettles  are  taken  off  the 
fire,  and  one  of  the  gentlemen  [escuyers,  ironically]  goes 
calling  aloud  through  the  village,  to  make  it  known  that 
the  feast  is  ready,  and  that  every  one  may  come  to  it. 
The  men  are  allowed  to  attend  it,  with  their  weapons, 
and  the  old  men,  each  with  his  own  plate.  No  prece- 
dence is  observed  in  their  seats,  but  every  one  takes  his 
place  without  any  order;  strangers  are  welcome  at  the 
feast,  as  well  as  the  people  of  the  village ;  and  they  even 
serve  the  strangers  first,  and  with  whatever  is  best  of  the 
food. 

depict  calumets,  birds,  or  animals'  (Letter  of  Father  Poisson,  in  Lett,  edtf., 
vol.  vi,  384).  'His  face  is  all  matache  with  black'  (La  Potherie's  Histoire,  vol. 
ii,  12,  and  vol.  iii,  26,  45)."  —  TAILHAN. 

29  "If  the  [flesh  of  the]  dog  was  the  most  esteemed  of  all  meats  among  the 
upper  Algonquins  and  the  Hurons,  it  was,  in  turn,  regarded  by  the  Montagnais 
as  the  most  wretched  of  all"  —  a  statement  which  is  made  in  some  old  Relation, 
but  for  which  the  reference  has  been  mislaid.  —  TAILHAN. 


54  NICOLAS    PERROT  [Vol. 

When  every  one  has  taken  his  place,  the  director  of 
this  ceremony  (who  always  remains  standing),30  assisted 
by  his  two  companions  — and  having  his  wife  and  chil- 
dren seated  beside  him,  decked  with  the  most  precious 
ornaments  that  he  possesses;  and  his  two  companions 
armed,  like  himself,  with  a  javelin  or  else  a  quiver  of 
arrows -forthwith  speaks  in  a  loud  tone,  to  make  all  the 
guests  hear  him,  saying  that  he  sacrifices  these  viands 
to  such  and  such  a  spirit  (whom  he  names),  and  that  it 
is  to  this  spirit  that  he  consecrates  them.  He  uses  such 
expressions  as  this :  "I  adore  thee,"  he  says,  "and  invoke 
thee,31  in  order  that  thou  mayest  favor  me  in  the  enter- 
prise which  I  am  undertaking,  and  that  thou  mayest  take 
pity  on  me  and  all  my  family.  I  invoke  all  the  spirits, 
both  evil  and  good,  all  those  of  the  air,  of  the  land,  and 
within  the  ground,  so  that  they  may  keep  me  and  my 
friends  in  safety,  and  that  we  may  be  able  to  return  to  our 
own  country  after  a  fortunate  journey."  Then  all  those 
present  respond,  with  one  voice,  "O!  O!"  Feasts  of 
this  sort  are  usually  made  only  on  the  occasion  of  a  war, 
or  of  other  enterprises  in  which  they  engage  when  on 
expeditions  against  their  enemies.  If  any  Frenchman  is 
present  among  them,  they  do  not  say,  "I  invoke  the  evil 
spirits ;"  but  they  pretend  to  address  only  the  good  spirits. 
But  the  words  that  they  use  in  invocations  of  this  sort 
are  so  peculiar  that  there  is  no  one  but  themselves  who 
can  understand  them.32  They  usually  have  recourse  to 

30  "Incorrect ;  he  is  seated."  —  ANON. 

"Among  the  Iroquois  the  orator  delivered  while  standing,  or  walking  about, 
the  discourse  which  preceded  certain  solemn  repasts  (Letter  of  Father  Millet,  in 
Relation  of  1674).  .  .  It  was,  perhaps,  in  the  tribal  councils  that  the  orator 
spoke  while  seated,  doubtless  through  respect  for  his  hearers  (Biard's  Relation, 
chap,  viii;  cf.  Relation  of  1646,  chap,  v)."  —  TAILHAN. 

31  "He  says  Maunore,  or  'I  salute  thee,'  and  'I  invoke  thee'."  —  ANON. 
"There  was  a  somewhat  similar  practice  among  the  Hurons;  see  the  Re- 
lation of  1636,  chap,  iii."  _  TAILHAN. 

32  "In  incantations  and  in  the  formal  speeches  of  priests   and  shamans  a 


one]  SUPERSTITIONS 


55 


all  the  spirits  whom  they  believe  to  be  most  powerful, 
and  those  who  may  be  more  propitious  than  the  others 
to  their  side;  and  they  even  imagine  that  they  cannot 
avert  the  evils  which  befall  them -from  enemies,  or 
sickness,  or  any  other  misfortune -if  they  have  omitted 
such  invocations. 

When  the  master  of  the  feast  has  ended  his  prayers - 
in  the  attitude  above-mentioned,  and  [equipped]  withhis 
bow  and  quiver  of  arrows,  his  javelin  or  his  dagger -he 
assumes  the  most  furious  aspect  that  he  possibly  can, 
chants  his  war-song,  and,  with  every  syllable  that  he 
utters,  makes  the  most  frightful  contortions  with  his 
head  and  body  that  you  ever  saw.  All  this,  however, 
proceeds  rhythmically;  for  the  voice  and  the  body  are  in 
accord  at  every  moment  with  the  demonstrations  of  his 
animosity,  which  make  it  evident  that  his  courage  is 
continually  increasing,  while  he  walks  incessantly,  in 
accord  with  the  tones  and  the  cadence  of  his  song,  from 
end  to  end  of  the  place  where  the  feast  is  given.  Thus 
he  goes  and  comes  many  times,  meanwhile  continuing 
his  gesticulations,  and  when  he  passes  in  front  of  the 
guests -who  are  seated  flat  on  the  ground,  at  both  sides, 
and  upon  all  spots  where  they  can  see  him- they  respond 
to  his  song,  keeping  time  with  it,  all  shouting  in  guttural 
voices,  Ouiy!  Ouiy!  But  what  is  more  agreeable  in  the 
measures  of  their  song  is,  that  at  certain  places  therein 
the  singer  utters  two  or  three  syllables  much  faster  than 
the  others;  all  those  present  do  the  same  by  responding, 
Ouiy!  Ouiy!  more  rapidly,  in  the  same  time  as  the  sing- 
ing requires.  This  is  so  regularly  observed  that  among 
five  hundred  people  together  not  one  will  be  found  who 
fails  to  do  thus. 

All  the  women  and  children,  and  in  general  all  the 

peculiar  vocabulary  is  sometimes  used,  containing  many  archaic  and  symbolic 
terms."  _  FRANZ  BOAS,  in  Handbook  Amer.  Indians,  art.  "Languages." 


56  NICOLAS    PERROT  [Vol. 

persons  in  the  village  who  are  not  invited  to  the  feast, 
repair  to  it  in  order  to  be  spectators  of  the  solemnity;  for 
this  they  lose  their  own  food  and  drink,  and  often  aban- 
don their  cabins,  which  they  thus  render  liable  to  be 
plundered  by  other  savages,  who  are  naturally  inclined 
to  theft. 

When  the  master  of  the  feast  has  finished  his  parade 
and  song,  he  resumes  his  place,  and  remains  in  the  same 
position  which  he  had  before.  One  of  his  companions 
now  relieves  him;  he  plays  the  same  part  and  character 
which  he  has  seen  the  former  enact,  and  after  he  has 
ended  it  he  goes  to  rejoin  the  master  of  the  feast  The 
other  companion  also  sings  in  his  turn,  and  after  him  all 
the  guests,  one  after  another,  who  endeavor  to  rival  one 
another  in  assuming  the  most  furious  aspect.  Some 
while  singing  fill  their  dishes  with  red-hot  embers  and 
burning  coals,  which  they  fling  upon  the  spectators,  who 
cry  out  with  one  voice  (very  loudly,  but  slowly) ,  Ouiyf 
Others  seize  firebrands,  which  they  hurl  into  the  air; 
and  there  are  some  of  them  who  pretend  to  break  the 
heads  of  those  present.  These  latter  are  obliged  to  make 
amends  for  this  insult  to  the  man  whom  they  have 
feigned  to  strike,  by  making  him  a  present  of  vermilion, 
or  ,a  knife,  or  some  other  article  of  like  value.  Only  the 
warriors  who  have  killed  men,  or  have  captured  prison- 
ers, are  permitted  to  act  in  that  fashion,  those  feigned 
attacks  signifying  that  thus  they  have  slain  their  enemies. 
But  if  it  should  occur  that  one  of  these  actors  did  not 
give  anything  to  the  man  whom  he  thus  approached  in 
the  company,  the  latter  would  tell  him  before  all  the 
spectators  that  he  had  lied  therein,  and  that  he  had  never 
been  able  to  kill  any  one,  which  would  cover  him  with 
confusion. 

While  all  these  songs  are  going  on,  the  warriors  dis- 


one]  SUPERSTITIONS 


57 


play  haughtiness,  courage,  and  a  readiness  again  to 
overcome  all  the  perils  which  they  have  previously  en- 
countered in  the  various  places  where  they  have  been 
engaged  in  war.  At  certain  moments  they  stop  singing, 
and  those  who  are  present  shout  all  together,  Ouiy! 
Then  they  continue  singing,  one  after  another  in  the 
assembly  taking  each  his  turn;  sometimes  three  or  four 
appear  together,  taking  their  places  at  each  end  and  in 
the  middle  of  the  place  where  the  feast  is  held.  March- 
ing from  one  end  to  the  other,  they  meet  [and  pass]  with- 
out losing  the  least  cadence  of  their  song,  or  changing 
the  contortions  in  their  faces  and  bodies,  even  though 
they  may  be  singing  different  songs,  and  with  different 
gesticulations.  Those  who  look  on  follow  the  singing, 
and  respond  in  their  turn  at  the  moment  when  the  dan- 
cers pass  before  them.  For  it  must  be  known  that  each 
man  has  his  own  peculiar  song,  and  that  he  cannot  sing 
that  belonging  to  his  comrade  without  thus  offering  him 
an  insult,  which  would  draw  a  blow  from  a  club  on  him 
who  had  sung  the  war-song  of  another  man  -  which  is  the 
worst  insult  that  can  be  offered  to  him  in  a  gathering 
where  he  is  present.33  This  song  cannot  be  sung  even 
after  his  death,  on  the  day  of  the  funeral,  save  by  those 
in  his  family  who  take  his  name.34  It  is,  however,  per- 

33  Cf.  Relation  of  1636  (chap,  vii),  and  La  Potherie's  Histoire  (vol.  ii,  116, 
117).     "On  the  songs  of  the  savages,  see  also  the  Relations  — of  1634,  of  1642 
(chap,  x),  of  1656  (chap.  vii)."-TAiLHAN. 

34  "  'In  this  country  they  do  not,  as  in  Europe,  take  family  names ;  the  chil- 
dren do  not  bear  the  name  of  the  father,  and  not  one  of  them  has  a  name  that 
is  common  to  all  the  family;  each  person  has  his  own  name  — in  such  manner, 
however,  that  no  name  is  ever  lost  if  that  can  be  avoided.     Thus,  when  any  one 
of  the  family  dies  all  the  relatives  assemble,  and  together  decide  which  among 
them  shall  bear  the  name  of  the  deceased,  giving  his  name  to  some  other  person, 
a  relative.     He  who  takes  a  new  name  likewise  assumes  the  responsibilities 
that  are  annexed  to  it,  and  thus  he  is  a  chief  if  the  dead  man  were  one.    This 
accomplished,  they  restrain  their  tears  and  cease  to  weep  for  the  dead ;  and  in 
this  manner  they  place  him  among  the  number  of  the  living  — saying  that  he  is 
brought  back  to  life,  and  has  taken  life  in  the  person  of  him  who  has  received 


58  NICOLAS   PERROT  [Vol. 

missible  to  sing  it  before  its  owner  on  other  than  festal 
occasions,  provided  that  the  singer  does  not  remain 
seated,  and  that  it  be  known  that  in  singing  this  song  he 
was  ignorant  that  it  belonged  to  the  other. 

When  every  one  in  the  assembly  has  sung,  those  who 
have  been  assigned  to  serve  the  food  at  once  take  the 
dishes  of  those  who  are  strangers,  fill  them,  and  place 
them  before  these  guests;  then  they  serve  their  chiefs; 
and  to  both  these  classes  they  give  the  best  of  the  food. 
The  other  guests  are  served  without  order  or  distinction ; 
they  all  are  seated  flat  on  the  ground,  which  serves  them 
for  a  table;  and  on  it  they  set,  between  their  legs,  the 
dishes  which  are  carried  to  them.  Every  person  there 
must,  above  all,  be  furnished  with  his  own  dish;  other- 
wise he  will  not  have  his  share  [of  the  food].  In  this 
they  hardly  ever  fail,  the  savage  being  naturally  too  fond 
of  eating  to  be  forgetful  on  any  occasion  when  it  is  a 
question  of  filling  his  stomach  well.35 

When  it  has  been  decided  to  make  a  general  expedi- 
tion, or  to  form  small  war-parties,  the  commander  of 

the  dead  man's  name  and  rendered  him  immortal.'  (Relation  of  1642,  chap.  x). 
Perrot  mentions,  farther  on,  this  curious  custom  and  the  ceremonies  with  which 
this  resurrection  from  the  dead  are  accompanied."  —  TAILHAN. 

In  the  Jesuit  Relations  are  many  references  to  adoption  for  the  purpose  of 
preserving  the  dead  person's  name;  see  index  to  that  work,  vol.  Ixii,  351,  under 
heading  "Resuscitation."  —  ED. 

35  "Incorrect ;  for  they  are  not  gluttons,  but  they  eat  a  great  deal  when  they 
need  it,  and  they  fast  when  they  must."  —  ANON. 

"Perrot  has  never  denied  that  the  savages  were  intrepid  fasters  when  they 
had  nothing  to  put  into  their  mouths,  or  when  superstition,  with  them  more 
powerful  than  gluttony,  imposed  upon  them  the  obligation  of  a  temporary 
abstinence  ;*  but  what  he  affirms,  and  what  is  true,  is,  that  on  every  other 
occasion  they  ate  with  an  appetite  that  the  heroes  of  Homer  might  envy,  and 
placed  at  the  service  of  their  hosts  a  voracity  which  did  not  wear  out  an  entire 
day  spent  in  satisfying  it.  On  every  page  of  the  old  relations  is  found  the  equiv- 
alent of  what  Perrot  sets  forth  in  this  passage  of  his  memoir."  Citation  is 
made  from  "an  anonymous  and  unpublished  history  of  New  France,  in  Latin, 
written  about  1637,"  which  confirms  (chap,  xii)  Perrot's  statements.  See  also 
Relation  of  1634,  chap,  vi;  id.  of  1635,  chap,  iv;  and  La  Potherie's  Histoire, 
vol.  ii,  184.  -  TAILHAN. 


one]  SUPERSTITIONS  59 

such  gives  a  feast  similar  to  that  which  has  just  been 
described.  Those  who  desire  attend  it,  in  order  to  en- 
roll their  names  with  him ;  for  he  would  not  be  accom- 
panied by  any  persons  unless  he  had  previously  enter- 
tained them.  The  expedition  which  must  be  made  is 
carried  out  according  to  his  orders;  and  while  it  lasts 
this  commander  has  his  face,  shoulders,  and  breast  black- 
ened with  clay  or  coals.  He  is  careful  also  to  sing  his 
death-song  every  morning,  when  they  break  camp,  and 
does  not  fail  to  do  this  until  he  gets  beyond  danger  or 
returns  to  his  own  village -where,  if  no  misfortune  has 
befallen  him,  he  again  gives  a  feast  to  thank  the  spirit 
who  has  been  favorable  to  him  on  his  journey;  and  to 
this  feast  are  invited  the  chief  men  of  the  village,  and 
those  whotaave  accompanied  him  in  his  enterprise.36 

VI.     Continuation  of  the  superstitions 

of  the  savages 

. 

They  honor  as  the  god  of  the  waters  the  Great  Pan-  i^ 
ther,  whom  the  Algonkins  and  others  who  speak  the    p*u 
same  language  call  Michipissy.37     They  tell  you  that 

36  "There  were  among  the  savages  two  kinds  of  feasts:  ordinary,  at  which 
each  guest  could  eat  as  much  as  he  pleased  of  the  portion  that  was  placed  before 
him,  and  the  rest  he  could  eat  or  carry  away,  as  he  chose ;  and  'eat-all'  feasts, 
which  must  be  entirely  consumed  on  the  spot,  and  before  the  company  separated. 
In  this  latter  kind  of  repast,  each  of  the  guests  must  eat  his  portion  without 
leaving  anything;  but  if  his  strength  was  unequal  to  his  courage  he  was  obliged 
to  find  among  the  other  guests  one  whose  stomach  was  complaisant  enough  to 
swallow  what  his  own  refused.     On  the  feasts  of  the  savages,  and  the  etiquette 
that  was  observed  therein,  cf.  Relations -of  1634  (chap,  vii  and  xiii),  of  1637 
(chap,  ii),  of  1642  (chap,  x),  of  1648   (chap,  xiv)  ;  also,  regarding  the  feasts 
of  the  Illinois,  Father  Rasles  (Lett  edif.,  vol.  vi,  175  ff.)."     Father  Gravier  (in 
his  relation  of   the   Illinois   [1694])    "tells  us  of   a  singular  custom  of   that 
people:  the  giver  of  the  feast  had  the  right  to  say  whatever  he  wished  to  his 
guests,  without  their  being  able  to  show  resentment  at  it."  -  TAILHAN. 

The  relation  by  Gravier  here  cited  was  published  in  Jesuit  Relations,  vol. 
Ixiv;  the  reference  is  to  page  165. -En. 

37  "The  Michipissy  or  Great  Panther,  elsewhere  called  Michibissy  or  Missi- 


60  NICOLAS   PERROT  [Vol. 

this  Michipissy  always  dwells  in  a  very  deep  cave,  and 
that  he  has  a  large  tail ;  and  when  he  goes  to  drink  the 
waving  of  his  tail  stirs  up  high  winds,  but  when  he 
switches  it  sharply  it  rouses  great  tempests.  In  the  jour- 
neys which  they  have  to  make,  whether  small  or  great, 
they  utter  their  invocations  in  this  manner :  "Thou  who 
art  the  master  of  the  winds,  favor  our  voyage,  and  give 
us  pleasant  weather."  This  is  said  while  smoking  a  pipe 
of  tobacco,  the  smoke  from  which  they  fling  into  the 
air.  But  before  they  undertake  voyages  that  are  rather 
long  they  are  careful  to  kill  some  dogs  with  their  clubs, 
and  to  hang  the  bodies  from  a  tree  or  a  pole ;  sometimes 
also  they  suspend  thus  dressed  skins  of  elk,  or  moose,  or 
deer,  which  they  consecrate  to  the  sun  or  the  lake,  in 
order  to  obtain  fair  weather.38  If  in  the  winter  they  have 

bizi,  was  invoked  by  the  Outaouais  or  people  of  the  upper  country,  in  order  to 
obtain  a  good  catch  of  sturgeons  (Relation  of  1667,  chap,  v;  Letter  of  Father 
Rasles,  in  Lett,  edif.,  vol.  vi,  173).  It  was  also  the  object  of  veneration  by  the 
savage  tribes  near  the  Bay  of  Puans  (Relation  of  1673,  chap,  iv,  in  Rel.  ined., 
vol.  i) ."  -  TAILHAN. 

ss  "This  superstition  was  in  force  among  the  Illinois,  as  is  proved  by  the 
following  passage  from  the  relation  by  Father  Gravier  already  cited:"  [The 
passage  here  referred  to  may  be  found  in  Jesuit  Relations,  vol.  Ixiv,  187.  —  ED.] 
"The  Kilistinons,  who  lived  upon  the  shores  of  Lake  Alimibegong  [i.e.,  Nipi- 
gon  — ED.],  between  Lake  Superior  and  Hudson  Bay,  were  also  'idolaters  of  the 
sun,  to  whom  they  ordinarily  presented  sacrifices,  fastening  a  dog  to  the  top  of  a 
pole,  which  they  left  hanging  thus  until  it  became  rotten'  (Relation  of  1667, 
chap.  xiii).  It  was  the  same  with  the  Amikoues  (Relation  of  1673-1679,  chap, 
i).  Among  the  Maloumines,  at  the  top  of  the  pole  was  placed  the  image  of  the 
sun,  and  lower  down  what  was  offered  to  it  in  sacrifice  (Relation  of  1674,  chap, 
v,  in  Rel.  ined.,  vol.  i).  Finally,  we  know  through  Father  Allouez  (Relation 
of  1667,  chap,  v)  that  among  all  the  peoples  known  under  the  name  of  Outaouais 
the  dog  was  among  the  victims  most  frequently  offered  to  the  manitous."  — 
TAILHAN.  [Cf.  Jesuit  Relations,  vol.  Ixvii,  159.  -  ED.] 

The  signification  and  value  of  sacrifice  are  variously  conceived  by  different 
peoples,  and  these  ideas  and  their  progress  are  thus  concisely  summed  up  by 
Tylor,  in  his  Primitive  Culture:  "The  ruder  conception,  that  the  deity  takes  and 
values  the  offering  for  itself,  gives  place  on  the  one  hand  to  the  idea  of  mere 
homage  expressed  by  a  gift,  and  on  the  other  to  the  negative  view  that  the  virtue 
lies  in  the  worshiper  depriving  himself  of  something  prized.  These  ideas  may  be 
broadly  distinguished  as  the  gift-theory,  the  homage-theory,  and  the  abnegation 


one]  SUPERSTITIONS  61 

to  make  some  special  journey  over  the  ice,  there  is  a  cer- 
tain spirit  whom  they  invoke  on  that  account,  whom  the 

theory."  It  will  be  seen  that  "the  gift-theory  was  the  dominant  one  among  Indian 
tribes,  yet  the  ordeals  of  such  a  ceremony  as  the  Sun-dance  show  plainly  that  the 
abnegation-theory  occupied  a  prominent  position  in  the  thought  of  some  tribes; 
nor  can  we  deny  that  the  homage-theory  was  also  entertained,  however  difficult  it 
may  be  to  isolate  it  thoroughly  from  the  others.  In  all  this  the  differences  in 
point  of  view  between  North  American  Indians  4and  the  lower  classes  of  so-called 
civilized  races  on  the  subject  of  sacrifice  are  not  very  great  A  far  greater  dis- 
tinction is  that  between  the  view  that  sacrifice  produces  a  change  in  the  deity 
beneficial  to  the  worshiper,  and  the  view  that  sacrifice  produces  a  beneficial 
change  in  the  worshiper  himself." 

Sacrifices  were  most  commonly  offered  by  individuals  —  the  person  desiring 
to  approach  the  deity,  the  father  of  a  family,  the  oldest  man  in  the  village,  or 
the  leader  of  a  war  or  hunting  party.  "Society  and  tribal  rites  and  ceremonies 
were  oftener  than  not  themselves  considered  as  sacrifices,  and  thus  furnish  us 
with  examples  of  sacrifices  participated  in  by  large  bodies  of  people.  Not  as 
frequently  as  in  the  Old  World,  and  yet  occasionally  (witness  for  instance  the 
White  Dog  ceremony  of  the  Iroquois  and  the  human  sacrifice  of  the  Skidi 
Pawnee),  there  is  a  special  national  sacrifice  consummated  by  chosen  individ- 
uals to  whom  the  title  of  'priest'  may  very  properly  be  applied."  All  super- 
human beings,  and  all  material  beings,  objects,  and  forces  which  were  supposed 
to  possess  the  least  supernatural  power,  were  the  recipients  of  sacrifices.  "In 
the  case  of  the  natural  objects  mentioned  it  is  to  be  understood  that  it  was 
not  the  object  in  any  case  which  was  thus  approached,  but  the  animating  soul 
of  each."  Offerings  were  also  made  to  personal  manitos,  guardian  spirits,  etc. 
"In  several  cases,  even  by  Christianized  Indians,  sacrifices  were  offered  to 
missionaries,  to  the  crosses  which  they  carried  or  set  up,  and  to  the  mission 
churches."  Tobacco  was  most  widely  used  for  a  sacrifice;  another  important 
article  for  this  purpose  was  corn ;  next  came  articles  of  food,  adornment,  clothing, 
and  implements  for  hunting  and  fishing.  Animals  were  sacrificed  —  dogs,  buf- 
falo, bears,  deer,  elk,  etc.  -  a  white  one  being  usually  preferred;  also  various 
parts  of  their  bodies.  In  the  list  must  be  placed  fish,  birds  (especially  the 
eagle)  and  their  feathers,  beans  and  other  valued  kinds  of  vegetal  nature; 
also  manufactured  articles,  as  blankets,  arrows,  powder  and  lead,  knives,  guns, 
utensils,  etc.;  and  red  paint  was  used  in  sacrifices,  in  various  ways.  In  some 
cases  the  funeral  ceremonies  of  a  chief  or  other  person  of  rank  included  the 
killing  of  servants  or  others,  in  order  that  their  spirits  might  serve  the  dead  in 
the  land  of  the  departed.  Mutilations  were  practiced  (as  in  the  Sun-dance)  as 
sacrifices  to  the  deity.  Songs,  dances,  feasts,  and  ceremonies  generally,  are  also 
regarded  as  a  sort  of  sacrifice,  since  their  object  is  to  please  the  deity.  Offer- 
ings were  usually  laid  on  or  near  a  sacred  object;  on  various  occasions  they 
were  thrown  into  the  water  or  into  fire,  or  on  the  ground,  and  sometimes  sus- 
pended from  trees  or  poles.  "In  the  case  of  food,  the  idea  was  usually  present 
that  supernatural  beings  partook  only  of  the  spirit  of  the  food  and  man  could 
very  properly  devour  its  substance.  .  .  At  most  sacrificial  feasts  the  food  was 
devoured  by  all  alike.  Only  occasionally  do  we  find  that  function  appropriated 


62  NICOLAS   PERROT  [Vol. 

Algonkins  call  Mateomek,  to  whom  they  give  and  offer 
tobacco-smoke  in  like  manner,  entreating  him  to  be  fav- 
orable and  propitious  to  them  in  their  journey.  But  that 
ceremony  is  practiced  with  much  indifference,  their 
little  fervor  being  very  far  from  that  which  is  shown  in 
their  solemn  feasts. 

The  Nepissings  (otherwise  called  Nepissiniens), 
Amikouas,  and  all  their  allies  assert  that  the  Amikoiias 
(which  term  means  "descendants  of  the  beaver")  had 
their  origin  from  the  corpse  of  the  Great  Beaver,  whence 
issued  the  first  man  of  that  tribe;  and  that  this  beaver 
left  Lake  Huron,  and  entered  the  stream  which  is  called 
French  River.  They  say  that  as  the  water  grew  too  low 
for  him,  he  made  some  dams,  which  are  now  rapids  and 
portages.  When  he  reached  the  river  which  has  its  rise 
in  [Lake]  Nepissing,  he  crossed  it,  and  followed  [the 
course  of]  many  other  small  streams  which  he  passed. 
He  then  made  a  small  dike  of  earth ;  but,  seeing  that  the 

by  shamans,  priests,  or  some  special  class  of  persons,  as  was  so  frequently  the 
case  in  the  Old  World."  "Tobacco  was  sometimes  offered  loose,  but  oftener 
in  a  pipe,  the  stem  of  the  pipe  being  presented  to  the  deity,  or  whiffs  of  smoke 
directed  toward  him,  a  common  formula  being  to  offer  it  to  the  four  cardinal 
points,  zenith,  and  nadir  successively.  .  .  Not  infrequently  the  sacrifice  bore 
a  symbolic  resemblance  to  the  object  desired  by  the  person  sacrificing." 

"The  White  Dog  feast  of  the  Iroquois  was  celebrated  five  days  after  the 
first  appearance  of  the  new  moon  following  the  winter  solstice.  The  harvest 
feast  of  the  Southern  tribes  and  the  corn-planting  sacrifice  of  the  Quapaw  were 
in  the  same  way  dependent  upon  the  succession  of  the  seasons."  Other  times 
for  sacrifices  were  determined  by  periods  of  want,  war,  or  disease,  or  by  other 
circumstances  of  the  people,  or  by  custom  at  certain  seasons.  As  for  the 
objects  for  which  sacrifices  were  offered,  "the  sum  and  substance  of  all  was,  as 
usual,  to  escape  evils  and  secure  benefits;"  they  were  chiefly  for  food  and  health, 
then  came  fair  weather,  rain,  success  in  war,  preservation  of  the  family,  etc. 

The  consideration  of  sacrifice  also  touches  mortuary  customs,  "the  shades  of 
the  dead  being  invoked  and  presented  with  food,  clothing,  etc.,  much  as  in  the 
case  of  higher  powers.  There  are  many  cases  in  which  supernatural  beings  are 
said  to  have  been  men  originally,  but  a  real  worship  of  ancestors  as  such 
appears  to  be  altogether  absent,  in  spite  of  the  almost  divine  honors  which  were 
paid  dead  chiefs  among  the  Natchez."  Other  related  subjects  are  incense, 
taboos,  confession,  consecration,  and  atonement;  also  charms  and  magic  for- 
mulas. -  JOHN  R.  SWANTON,  in  Handbook  Amer.  Indians, 


one]  SUPERSTITIONS  63 

flood  of  the  waters  penetrated  it  at  the  sides,  he  was 
obliged  to  build  dams  at  intervals,  in  order  that  he 
might  have  sufficient  water  for  his  passage.  Then  he 
came  to  the  river  which  flows  from  Outenulkame,  where 
he  again  applied  himself  to  building  dams  in  the  places 
where  he  did  not  find  enough  water -where  there  are  at 
the  present  time  shoals  and  rapids,  around  which  one  is 
obliged  to  make  portages.  Having  thus  spent  several 
years  in  his  travels,  he  chose  to  fill  the  country  with  the 
children  whom  he  left  there,  and  who  had  multiplied 
wherever  he  had  passed,  laboriously  engaged  in  the  little 
streams  which  he  had  discovered  along  his  route ;  and  at 
last  he  arrived  below  the  Calumets.  There  he  made 
some  dams  for  the  last  time,  and,  retracing  his  steps,  he 
saw  that  he  had  formed  a  fine  lake ;  and  there  he  died. 
They  believe  that  he  is  buried  to  the  north  of  this  lake 
toward  the  place  where  the  mountain  appears  to  view  as 
in  the  shape  of  a  beaver,  and  that  his  tomb  is  there ;  this 
is  the  reason  why  they  call  the  place  where  he  lies  "the 
slain  beaver."  When  those  peoples  pass  by  that  place, 
they  invoke  him  and  blow  [tobacco]  smoke  into  the  air 
in  order  to  honor  his  memory,  and  to  entreat  him  to  be 
favorable  to  them  in  the  journey  that  they  have  to  make.*9 
If,  when  any  stranger  or  poor  widow  is  in  need  near 
these  Amikoiias  or  any  one  of  their  clan,  they  see  a 
branch  that  has  been  gnawed  at  night  by  some  beaver, 
the  first  person  who  finds  it  at  the  entrance  of  his  tent 
picks  it  up  and  carries  it  to  the  head  of  the  clan,  who 
immediately  causes  a  supply  of  food  to  be  collected  for 

39  "This  tradition  of  the  Amikouas  -  or,  as  Perrot  calls  them  elsewhere,  the 
Amikoues-is  related,  following  our  author,  by  Charlevoix  (Histoire,  vol.  iii, 
283).  We  likewise  read  something  similar  to  this  in  the  Relation  of  1670 
(chap,  xii ) ."  -  TAILHAN. 

Amikwa  (or  Beaver  People) :  a  small  Algonquian  tribe  encountered  by  the 
French  on  the  north  shore  of  Lake  Huron,  and  later  driven  to  Lakes  Superior 
and  Michigan  by  the  attacks  of  the  Iroquois;  but  in  1740  a  remnant  of  them 
had  taken  refuge  in  Manitoulin  Island.  —  ED. 


64  NICOLAS    PERROT  [Vol. 

this  poor  person,  who  has  a  memorial  of  their  ancestors ; 
and(  those  in  the  villages  willingly  club  together  to  make 
a  present  to  him  who  has  done  them  the  honor  of  recall- 
ing to  them  their  origin. )  They  do  not  practice  this  with 
the  Frenchmen,  since  these  deride  them  and  their  super- 
stition. 

VII.     Marriage  among  the  savages 

There  are  some  savage  peoples  among  whom  persons 
marry  in  order  to  live  together  until  death;  and  there 
are  others  among  whom  married  persons  separate  when- 
ever it  pleases  them  to  do  so.  Those  who  observe  this 
latter  maxim  are  the  Irroquois,  the  Loups,  and  some 
others.  But  the  Outaoiias  marry  their  wives  in  order  to 
remain  with  them  throughout  life,  unless  some  very 
forcible  reason  gives  the  husband  occasion  to  put  away 
his  wife.  For  without  such  a  reason  the  man  would  ex- 
pose himself  to  be  plundered  and  to  a  thousand  humilia- 
tions, since  she  whom  he  had  wrongfully  quitted,  in 
order  to  take  another  wife,  would  go  at  the  head  of  her 
relatives  and  take  from  him  whatever  he  had  on  his  per- 
son and  in  his  cabin;  she  would  tear  out  his  hair  and 
disfigure  his  face.  In  a  word,  there  is  no  indignity  or  in- 
sult which  she  would  not  heap  upon  him,  and  which  she 
may  not  lawfully  inflict  on  him,  without  his  being  able 
to  oppose  her  therein  if  he  does  not  wish  to  become  the 
butt  of  ignominy  in  the  village.  When  the  husband  does 
not  take  another  wife,  the  one  whom  he  has  deserted 
may  strip  him  when  he  comes  back  from  hunting  or 
trading,  leaving  to  him  only  his  weapons ;  and  she  takes 
away  [even]  these  if  he  positively  refuses  to  return  with 
her.  But  when  the  man  can  prove  on  his  side  that  she 
has  been  unfaithful  to  him,  either  before  or  since  he  has 
left  her,  he  can  take  another  wife  without  any  one  being 


one]  MARRIAGE    AMONG    THE    SAVAGES  65 

able  to  raise  objection.  The  woman  cannot  at  her  own 
whim  abandon  her  husband,  since  he  is  her  master,  who 
has  bought  and  paid  for  her;  even  her  relatives  cannot 
take  her  away  from  him ;  and  if  she  leaves  him  custom 
authorizes  him  to  kill  her,  without  any  one  blaming  him 
for  it.40  This  has  often  brought  on  war  between  farrP 
ilies,  when  [relatives]  undertook  to  maintain  the  hus- 
band's right  when  the  woman  would  not  consent  to  re- 
turn to  him. 

40  "Wrong ;  the  most  severe  toward  this  offense  are  the  Miamis ;  but  they 
do  no  more  than  to  cut  off  the  noses  from  such  licentious  persons."  —  ANON. 

"This  contradiction  is  offered  somewhat  too  lightly;  for  among  the  tribes 
that  Perrot  visited,  there  was  at  least  one  in  which  the  unfaithful  wife  was 
punished  by  death."  This  was  the  Illinois  (Relation  of  1670,  chap,  xi)  ;  and 
other  savage  peoples  punished  adultery  even  more  severely  than  did  the  Miamis. 
"It  is  well,  however,  to  add  that,  even  among  the  Illinois,  cutting  off  the  nose 
was  the  penalty  most  commonly  inflicted."  —  TAILHAN. 

"East  of  the  Mississippi  the  clan  and  gentile  systems  were  most  highly  de- 
veloped. The  rules  against  marriage  within  the  clan  or  gens  were  strictly 
enforced.  Descent  of  name  and  property  was  in  the  female  line  among  the 
Iroquoian,  Muskhogean,  and  southeastern  Algonquian  tribes,  but  in  the  male  line 
among  the  Algonquians  of  the  north  and  west.  Among  some  tribes,  such  as 
the  Creeks,  female  descent  did  not  prevent  the  subjection  of  women.  As  a 
rule,  however,  women  had  clearly  denned  rights.  Gifts  took  the  place  of  pur- 
chase. Courtship  was  practically  alike  in  all  the  Atlantic  tribes  of  the  Algon- 
quian stock ;  though  the  young  men  sometimes  managed  the  matter  themselves, 
the  parents  generally  arranged  the  match.  A  Delaware  mother  would  bring 
some  game  killed  by  her  son  to  the  girl's  relatives  and  receive  an  appropriate 
gift  in  return.  If  the  marriage  was  agreed  upon,  presents  of  this  kind  were 
continued  for  a  long  time.  A  Delaware  husband  could  put  away  his  wife  at 
pleasure,  especially  if  she  had  no  children,  and  a  woman  could  leave  her  hus- 
band. The  Hurons  and  the  Iroquois  had  a  perfect  matriarchate,  which  limited 
freedom  of  choice.  Proposals  made  to  the  girl's  mother  were  submitted  by  her 
to  the  women's  council,  whose  decision  was  final  among  the  Hurons.  Iroquois 
unions  were  arranged  by  the  mothers  without  the  consent  or  knowledge  of  the 
couple.  Polygamy  was  permissible  for  a  Huron,  but  forbidden  to  the  Iroquois. 
Divorce  was  discreditable,  but  could  easily  be  effected.  The  children  went  with 
the  mother.  Monogamy  is  thus  found  to  be  the  prevalent  form  of  marriage 
throughout  the  continent.  The  economic  factor  is  everywhere  potent,  but  an 
actual  purchase  is  not  common.  The  marriage  bond  is  loose,  and  may,  with 
few  exceptions,  be  dissolved  by  the  wife  as  well  as  by  the  husband.  The 
children  generally  stay  with  their  mother,  and  always  do  in  tribes  having 
maternal  clans."  -  ROBERT  H.  LOWIE  and  LIVINGSTON  FARRAND,  in  Handbook 
Amer.  Indians. 


66  NICOLAS   PERROT  [Vol. 

The  Irroquois,  the  Loups,  and  some  other  tribes  do  not 
act  toward  their  women  as  the  Outaoiias  do;  there  are 
among  them,  however,  some  men  who  never  leave  their 
wives  and  love  no  other  woman  during  life.  But  the 
greater  number,  especially  the  young  men,  marry  in 
order  to  leave  their  wives  whenever  they  please.  The 
man  and  wife  take  each  other  for  a  hunting  or  trading 
voyage,  and  share  equally  the  profit  they  have  made 
therein.  The  husband  can  even  agree  with  the  wife  re- 
garding what  he  will  give  her  for  such  time  as  he  desires 
to  keep  her  with  him,  under  condition  that  she  remain 
faithful  to  him ;  she  also,  after  having  ended  the  voyage, 
can  separate  from  him.41  There  are  some  of  them,  how- 
ever, who  feel  a  mutual  love,  and  always  live  together; 
these  are  the  couples  who  have  had  children ;  and  the 
latter,  according  to  the  rule  of  the  savages,  belong  to 
the  mother,  since  they  always  live  with  her -the  boys, 
until  they  are  ready  to  be  married;  and  the  girls,  until 
the  death  of  the  mother.  If  the  father  should  leave  his 
wife,  the  children  whom  he  has  had  by  her  would  not 
fail,  when  they  grew  up,  to  treat  him  with  contempt,  and 
to  overwhelm  him  with  reproaches  for  having  aban- 
doned them  in  their  childhood  and  left  to  their  mother 
all  the  care  and  hardship  of  rearing  them.42 

41  "All  the  savages  take  with  them  some  women  on  a  campaign,  and  they 
have  others  who  remain  at  home  with  the  children."  — ANON. 

"Simultaneous  plural  marriage  was,  as  a  fact,  practiced  by  the  greater  number 
of  the  peoples  of  New  France.  It  was  in  vogue  in  the  valley  of  the  St.  Law- 
rence (Biard's  Relation,  chap,  vi;  Relation  of  1644,  chap,  viii;  Perrot,  p.  27; 
La  Potherie's  Histoire,  vol.  ii,  31;  Charlevoix's  Histoire,  vol.  iii,  283),  and,  in 
the  great  valley  of  the  Mississippi,  among  the  Illinois  and  the  Sioux,  and  others 
(Lett,  edif.,  vol.  vii,  21,  22;  Relation  of  1660,  chap,  iii)."  —  TAILHAN. 

42  "Idle  tales."  _  ANON. 

"This  contradiction  is  no  more  deserved  than  that  one  which  is  questioned 
in  the  first  note  to  this  chapter.  An  Illinois  could  not  separate  from  his  wife 
when  he  had  had  children  by  her  (Lett,  edif.,  vol.  vii,  21,  22).  As  for  children 
taking  the  side  of  their  mother  against  their  father  who  had  abandoned  her,  I 
read  something  of  the  same  sort  in  Father  Lafitau's  Mceurs  des  sauvages  Ameri- 
quains,  vol.  i,  189,  190."  —  TAILHAN. 


one]  MARRIAGE    AMONG    THE    SAVAGES  67 

I.     Customs  in  use  among  the  savages  of  both  North 

and  South  who  speak  the  A I go  n  kin  language, 

or  those  who  spring  from  that  stock,  when 

they  seek  a  girl  in  marriage 

Those  peoples  make  love  secretly,  during  a  rather  long 
time.  The  youth  makes  the  first  beginning,  by  declar- 
ing his  purpose  to  some  one  of  his  friends  whose  discre- 
tion and  fidelity  he  knows;  the  girl  does  as  much,  on 
her  side,  and  chooses  as  confidant  one  of  her  companions, 
to  whom  she  discloses  her  secret.  The  youth,  having 
with  him  the  comrade  whom  alone  he  has  informed  of 
his  love,  approaches  at  an  unseasonable  hour  the  place 
where  the  girl  is  sleeping,  and  informs  her  that  he 
wishes  to  visit  her.  If  she  consents  to  this,  he  sits  down 
close  to  her,  and  makes  known  to  her,  in  the  most  deco- 
rous manner,  the  affection  that  he  feels  toward  her,  and 
his  intention  of  making  her  his  wife.  If  the  girl  does 
not  give  a  favorable  reply  on  an  occasion  of  this  sort, 
after  he  has  made  his  declaration,  he  then  withdraws ; 
but  he  returns  on  the  next  day,  in  the  same  manner  as 
before.  He  continues  to  visit  her  every  night,  until  he 
has  gained  her  consent,  given  by  her  telling  him  that  her 
mother  is  mistress  of  her  person.43 

The  young  man  then  goes  to  his  mother,  and  an- 
nounces to  her  the  name  of  the  girl  whom  he  is  seeking 

43  "These  love-affairs  are  greatly  exaggerated."  —  ANON. 

"Not  so,  however,  in  regard  to  what  Perrot  says  of  the  custom,  universally 
accepted  among  those  peoples,  in  pursuance  of  which  the  young  men  went  at 
night  to  visit  the  young  women  whom  they  sought  in  marriage.  The  early 
missionaries  frequently  mention  it,  and  continually  lament  the  dissolute  acts 
which  resulted  from  such  a  custom.  Among  other  accounts  of  this  subject  the 
reader  may  consult  the  Relations:  of  1639  (chap,  iv),  of  1640  (chap,  viii),  of 
1642  (chap,  ii),  of  1643  (chap,  iv),  of  1670  (chap.  xi).  Among  some  of  the 
Canadian  tribes  these  nocturnal  visits  took  place  by  way  of  pastime,  without  any 
idea  of  marriage  (Relation  of  1642,  chap.  x)."-TAiLHAN. 

The  reader  will  find  in  the  Jesuit  Relations  (Cleveland,  1896-1901)  abun- 
dant information  and  curious  details  regarding  Indian  customs  in  courtship,  mar- 
riage, and  divorce  (see  index  of  that  work,  in  art.  "Indians").- ED. 


68  NICOLAS   PERROT  [Vol. 

in  marriage,  with  the  consent  which  the  latter  has  given 
him.  The  mother  then  tells  his  father,  or,  if  he  has  none, 
the  uncle  or  nearest  cousin;  and  the  two  go  to  visit  the 
girl's  family,  in  order  to  propose  to  them  the  alliance 
with  their  son.  Sometimes  it  is  sufficient  to  make  this 
proposal  to  the  brother  of  the  girl,  who  will  then  discuss 
it  with  their  mother;  and,  after  having  gained  her  con- 
sent, the  relatives  meet  together  in  order  to  settle  what 
amount,  whether  in  furs  or  in  other  goods,  they  will  give 
to  provide  for  the  young  people.  The  mother  of  the 
young  man  carries  to  the  girl's  home  the  half  of  what 
shall  be  given  her  in  marriage,  and  returns  thither  two 
or  three  times  to  carry  something  in  order,  as  she  says, 
to  pay  for  the  body  of  her  future  daughter-in-law.  Dur- 
ing that  time  all  the  goods  are  distributed  among  the 
relatives  of  the  girl,  who  reimburse  the  mother-in-law 
for  part  of  them  with  provisions,  such  as  Indian  corn 
and  other  kinds  of  grain ;  for  it  is  the  woman  who  takes 
care  to  furnish  her  husband  with  grain.  The  new  bride 
is  dressed  as  handsomely  as  possible,  and  is  accompanied 
by  her  mother-in-law,  who  points  out  to  the  girl  the  place 
near  herself  which  she  must  occupy  with  her  husband, 
who  is  then  strolling  in  the  village.  When  the  bride  is 
seated,  the  mother-in-law  takes  from  her  all  the  gar- 
ments which  she  has  on  her  person,  and  gives  her  others, 
also  some  goods  which  she  carries  to  the  girl.  The  latter 
then  returns  to  her  mother,  who  again  strips  her  of  all 
her  finery,  and  receives  from  her  all  the  goods  that  she 
has;  then  having  dressed  the  girl  for  the  last  time,  the 
mother  sends  her  back  to  her  husband's  house,  making 
her  a  present  of  some  sacks  of  grain.  Repeated  visits  of 
this  sort  are  sometimes  made  very  often ;  but  when  it  is 
desired  to  end  them  the  girl  is  dressed  in  ragged  gar- 
ments, and  it  is  by  this  means  that  the  marriage  cere- 


one]  MARRIAGE    AMONG    THE    SAVAGES  69 

monies  are  terminated;  for  after  that  she  lives  with  her  I    effvx  tv^cU'-f-s 
mother-in-law,  who  has  charge  of  her. 

Although  the  savages  have  not,  at  bottom,  much  es- 
teem for  modesty  they  nevertheless  surpass  the  Euro- 
peans in  external  propriety;  for  in  all  their  love-affairs 
they  never  utter  in  conversation  a  word  which  can  wound 
chaste  feelings.  There  are  among  them  some  who,  after 
being  married,  have  remained  six  months  or  even  a  year 
without  intercourse,  and  others  the  same  for  more  or  less 
time.  The  reason  which  they  give  for  this  is,  that  they 
marry  not  because  of  lust,  but  purely  through  affection.44 

When  the  marriage  has  been  consummated,  the  newly 
wedded  go  together  to  hunt  and  fish;  and  thence  they 
return  to  the  village,  to  the  cabin  of  the  girl's  mother, 
and  give  her  whatever  they  have  brought.    This  mother  1 
takes  a  part  of  it  to  give  to  the  mother  of  the  youth,  who 
is  obliged  to  live  with  his  mother-in-law  and  work  forj 
her  during  two  years,  for  it  is  his  duty  to  do  so.    During 
all  that  time,  she  alone  is  under  obligation  to  feed  and 
support  him;  and  if  he  must  give  any  feast  she  pays  the 
expense  of  it. 

After  he  has  served  his  two  years  with  his  mother-in- 
law,  he  returns  with  his  wife  to  his  own  mother;  and 

44  "A  mere  story ;  that  does  not  occur  except  when  there  is  only  an  engage- 
ment between  the  young  people."  -  ANON. 

"But  here  is  what  I  read  in  the  Relation  of  1652,  chap,  ii:  'Those  peoples 
ordinarily  behave,  during  the  first  two,  three,  or  four  months  of  their  married 
life,  as  if  they  were  brother  and  sister,  giving  as  a  reason  for  their  mode  of 
conduct  that  they  love  each  other  with  the  affection  of  near  relatives,  who  feel  a 
horror  of  carnal  actions.  This  love  of  relationship  is  among  the  pagans  greater 
and  stronger  than  the  love  of  marriage,  into  which  it  degenerates.  If  in  those 
first  months  they  come  to  dislike  each  other,  they  part  without  any  disturbance, 
remaining  as  they  were  before.'  Cf.  La  Potherie  (Histoire,  vol.  ii,  20),  Lafitau 
(Mceurs  des  sauvages,  vol.  i,  514),  and  Gravier  (Relation  de  la  mission  de 
Notre  Dam^)."-TAiLHAN. 

On  this  point,  see  Jesuit  Relations,  vol.  ix,  308,  vol.  xviii,  177,  vol.  xix,  69, 
vol.  xxxvii,  153-155,  vol.  xl,  229.  Continence  was  also  practiced  to  obtain 
favorable  dreams  (vol.  xvii,  203).  — ED. 


70  NICOLAS   PERROT  [Vol. 

when  he  comes  back  from  hunting  or  fishing  he  gives 
his  mother-in-law  a  part  of  what  he  has  brought  back 
for  his  mother.  Similarly,  when  he  returns  from  trad- 
ing it  is  always  the  wishes  of  his  mother-in-law  to  which 
he  must  pay  regard ;  *5  and  his  wife  is  obliged  to  do  what- 
ever work  is  suitable  for  women,  the  same  as  if  she  were 
the  servant  of  the  house.  When  either  the  man  or  his 
wife  dies,  the  members  of  the  family  to  which  the  dead 
person  belongs  exhaust  their  means,  and  contribute 
among  the  relatives,  to  furnish  peltries,  merchandise, 
and  provisions  to  be  carried  to  the  parents  of  the  de- 
parted, so  as  to  aid  the  latter  in  meeting  the  great  ex- 
penses which  they  necessarily  incur  on  that  occasion.  In 
following  pages  mention  will  be  made  of  matters  con- 
cerning the  mode  in  which  they  solemnize  their  funerals. 
If  the  husband  dies,  the  wife  cannot  marry  again 
unless  the  man  is  one  to  the  liking  of  the  mother-in-law,46 
and  after  two  years  of  mourning.  This  period  the 
widow  observes  by  cutting  off  her  hair,  and  not  using  any 
grease  on  it;  she  combs  it  as  seldom  as  she  possibly  can, 
and  it  is  always  bristling;  she  also  goes  without  vermil- 
ion, which  she  can  no  longer  use  on  her  face.  Her  cloth- 
ing is  but  a  wretched  rag,  sometimes  a  worn-out  old 
blanket,  sometimes  a  hide  black  with  dirt,  so  wretched 
that  it  cannot  be  used  for  anything  else.  She  is  inter- 
dicted from  visiting  her  friends,  unless  they  have  pre- 
viously visited  her  or  she  meets  them  when  she  goes  out 

45  "The  anonymous  annotator  has  corrected  all  this  passage  in  the  following 
manner:     When  he  returns  from  hunting  or  fishing  his  mother  gives  him  a 
part  of  what  he  has  brought,  for  his  mother-in-law;  if  he  comes  from  trading, 
similarly,  and  his  wife  is  obliged,'  etc.     But  this  correction  cannot,  nor  should 
it,  be  accepted.     It  is  contrary  to  the  author's  real  meaning,  clearly  expressed 
in  the  original  text.     La  Potherie  (Histoire,  vol.  ii,  30,  31)  agrees  with  Perrot." 

-  TAILHAN. 

46  "Wrong."  -  ANON. 

"Correct,    according   to   Charlevobc    (Histoire,   vol.    iii,    376)    and   Lafitau 
(Maurs  des  sauvages,  vol.  ii,  439,  440)."  -  TAILHAN. 


one]  MARRIAGE    AMONG    THE    SAVAGES  71 

to  search  for  firewood.  In  the  cabin  she  usually  occupies 
the  place  which  her  husband  had  while  living.  In  what- 
ever place  she  may  be,  she  must  not  show  any  indication 
of  pleasure,  and  it  is  not  without  having  to  suffer  pain 
that  she  must  thus  restrain  herself;  because  the  savages, 
when  they  see  the  women  weeping  for  their  departed 
husbands,  mock  them  and  say  a  thousand  insulting  things 
to  them.  She  continues  to  render  the  same  services  to 
the  parents  of  her  husband,  and  yields  as  entire  submis- 
sion to  all  that  they  command  her  to  do,  as  she  did  when 
he  was  alive.  Those  about  her  show,  it  is  true,  much 
consideration  for  her  modesty  and  for  the  line  of  conduct 
which  she  is  obliged  to  follow ;  for  they  take  special  pains 
not  to  give  in  the  least  thing  any  occasion  for  grief  - 
either  giving  her  food,  or  sending  to  the  house  of  her 
parents,  out  of  respect  to  her,  the  best  of  what  they  have, 
without  either  herself  or  her  family  being  expected  to 
reciprocate  the  gift  through  politeness. 

When  her  two  years  of  widowhood  have  expired,  if 
she  has  strictly  observed  [the  requirements  of]  her 
mourning,  they  take  off  her  rags,  and  she  again  puts  on 
handsome  garments ;  she  rubs  vermilion  on  her  hair  and 
her  face,  and  wears  her  earrings,  her  collar  of  glass  and 
porcelain  beads,  and  other  trinkets  which  the  savages 
consider  most  valuable.  If  one  of  the  brothers  or  near 
relatives  of  her  late  husband  loves  her,  he  marries  her; 
if  not,  she  accepts  [as  husband]  4T  some  man  whom  she  is 
obliged  to  marry,  without  the  power  to  refuse  him -for 
the  parents  of  the  deceased  are  masters  of  her  body.  But 

47  Fr.  slnon  elle  en  adopte  un.  Tailhan  says  here :  "From  what  has  been 
said  by  Perrot  in  the  preceding  paragraph,  we  must  conclude  that  here  the 
pronoun  elle  relates  not  to  the  widow,  but  to  her  mother-in-law."  He  evidently 
thinks  that  the  latter,  in  default  of  another  son,  adopts  one,  for  the  purpose  of 
providing  a  husband  for  the  widowed  daughter-in-law ;  but  his  antecedent  for 
elle  seems  rather  too  far-fetched,  since  Perrot  seems  to  mean  here  that  a  second 
husband  for  the  widow  is  chosen  for  her  by  the  mother-in-law.  -  ED. 


72  NICOLAS   PERROT  [Vol. 

if  they  do  not  provide  a  husband  for  her  she  cannot  be 
hindered  from  marrying  some  other  man  after  the  period 
of  her  widowhood  is  ended;  and  in  leaving  to  her  this 
liberty  they  are  obliged  to  recognize  her  fidelity  by 
presents. 

If  any  one  of  her  relatives  who  already  had  one  wife 
took  the  widow  as  his  second  one,  his  first  wife  would 
be  the  mistress  [of  the  household].  If  the  widow  were 
not  his  relative,  and  if  he  did  not  on  his  return  from  hunt- 
ing or  fishing  give  her  a  share  of  what  he  brought  back, 
this  would  arouse  so  great  jealousy  between  his  two 
wives  that  they  would  begin  to  fight  over  it;  and,  the  two 
families  coming  to  mutual  encounter,  each  to  support 
the  cause  of  the  woman  who  belonged  to  it,  very  griev- 
ous accidents  would  occur,  without  any  one  being  able 
to  interfere  to  prevent  them  or  to  put  an  end  to  the 
quarrel.  Some  chief  has  the  right  only  to  quiet  them, 
when  he  sees  that  in  the  fray  there  has  been  bloodshed. 
But  very  often  settlements  thus  made  are  not  of  long 
duration  ;  for  on  the  first  opportunity  they  remind  each 
other  of  the  quarrel,  and  finally  one  of  the  two  wives  is 
constrained  to  quit  the  husband,  which  in  such  case  is 
permitted  to  her.  But  if  he  has  any  supplies,  whether 
meat  or  fish,  the  wife  who  leaves  him  carries  away  from 
him,  with  the  assistance  of  her  mother,  sisters,  cousins, 
or  nieces,  all  that  he  has,  without  his  offering  any  oppo- 
sition; and  the  quarrel  begins  afresh  over  this  matter. 
Nevertheless,  one  sees  among  the  savages  many  men  who 
have  two  wives,  and  who  yet  live  in  quite  harmonious 
manner,  although  not  relatives  -  for  when  the  women  are 
such  they  always  live  together  without  any  strife,  all  that 
is  furnished  by  their  husband  being  for  the  common  use 
of  their  family,  who  cultivate  the  land  together.  But 
when  the  wives  are  not  of  kin  they  work  separately,  and 


one]  MARRIAGE    AMONG    THE    SAVAGES  73 

strive  to  be  each  richer  than  the  other  in  grain  and  pro- 
duce, in  order  with  these  to  make  presents  on  both  sides 
and  maintain  friendly  and  pleasant  relations. 

When  the  wife  dies,  the  husband  in  like  manner  ob- 
serves his  mourning.  He  does  not  weep,  but  he  refrains 
entirely  from  painting  his  face  with  vermilion,  and  puts 
only  a  very  little  grease  on  his  hair.  He  makes  presents 
to  the  parents  of  the  deceased  wife;  if  he  does  not  lodge 
with  them  he  sends  them  the  best  part  of  his  game  or 
fish,  or  of  any  other  gains.  It  is  not  permitted  to  him  to 
marry  again  until  after  his  two  years  of  mourning,  and 
when  he  has  spent  them  in  the  manner  required.  If  he 
is  a  good  hunter,  or  has  some  other  accomplishment,  his 
sister-in-law  or  one  of  her  cousins  is  given  to  him  in  mar- 
riage ;  but  if  there  are  none  of  these  he  accepts  a  girl  who 
is  regarded  as  suitable,  whom  he  is  obliged  to  take  for 
his  wife,  without  the  power  of  refusal;  for  he  is  pro- 
hibited from  marrying  again  save  with  the  knowledge 
and  consent  of  his  mother-in-law,  in  case  she  is  alive,  or 
at  the  will  of  her  relatives  if  she  is  dead.  If  he  disobeyed 
this  rule  all  the  relatives  of  his  deceased  wife  would 
heap  a  thousand  indignities  on  the  woman  whom  he  had 
taken  without  such  consent;  and  if  he  had  two  wives,  they 
would  do  the  same  to  the  other  one.  The  relatives 
would  carry  their  animosity  so  far  that  the  brothers  or 
the  cousins  of  the  deceased  woman  would  league  them- 
selves with  their  comrades  to  carry  away  his  new  wife 
and  violate  her;  and  this  act  would  be  considered  by 
disinterested  persons  as  having  been  legitimately  perpe- 
trated. This  is  the  reason  why  very  few  men  are  known 
to  make  such  a  mistake  when  they  marry  again,  since 
this  is  the  law  among  them,  although  it  is  not  universal. 

The  chiefs  of  the  villages  are  not  under  obligation  to    fc.h/f  | 
remain  widowers  after  six  months'  time,  because  they 


74  NICOLAS    PERROT  [Vol. 

cannot  get  along  without  women  to  serve  them,  and  to 
cultivate  the  lands  which  produce  their  tobacco  and  all 
[else]  that  is  necessary  for  them  to  be  prepared  to  re- 
ceive those  who  come  to  visit  them,  and  strangers  who 
have  any  business  regarding  the  tribe  to  place  before 
them.  But  it  is  not  the  same  with  the  war-chiefs,  who 
are,  like  the  others,  obliged  to  spend  two  years  as  wid- 
owers ;  and  if  such  a  man  is  not  a  good  hunter,  or  if  he 
does  not  please  the  family  of  the  dead  woman,  they  con- 
tent themselves  with  making  him  a  present  and  telling 
him  to  look  for  his  comfort  where  he  can  find  it.48 

II.     Practice  or  occupations  of  the  men 

Among  the  savages  the  men  are  obliged  to  hunt  and 
fish.  They  usually  live  along  the  shores  of  the  lake 
otherwise  called  "the  fresh-water  sea"  [i.e.,  Lake  Su- 
perior], and  they  repair  to  it  in  the  evening  to  stretch 
their  nets,  and  then  in  the  morning  to  lift  these  out.  They 
are  obliged  to  bring  their  venison  to  the  door  of  the 
cabin,  and  their  fish  to  the  landing-place,  where  they 
leave  it  in  the  canoe.  It  is  their  duty  to  go  to  find  the 
wood  and  poles  suitable  for  building  the  cabin,  and 
roofing  for  the  cabin  which  stands  in  the  regular  village, 
not  out  in  the  fields ;  also  to  make  the  canoes,  if  they  are 
skilful  enough,  and  to  chop  all  the  wood  which  they 
need,  as  it  is  taken  for  granted  that  this  is  somewhat 
rough  work.  When  they  are  on  the  road,  it  is  for  the 

48  "The  Relations  of  New  France,  and  La  Potherie,  Lafitau,  and  Charlevoix, 
could  furnish  —  besides  what  I  have  borrowed  from  them  in  the  previous 
notes  —  many  more  and  fresh  proofs  in  support  of  Perrot's  veracity,  and  of  the 
accuracy  of  his  information  on  all  that  concerns  marriage  among  the  savages 
of  Canada ;  but  one  must  keep  within  bounds.  I  will  content  myself  with  plac- 
ing before  the  reader's  eyes  the  following  references:  Champlain,  Voyages, 
293>  294;  Relations  —  of  1639  (chap,  x),  of  1642  (chap,  xi),  of  1646  (chap,  x, 
and  part  2,  chap,  ii),  of  1657  (chap,  xii),  of  1670  (chap,  xi)  ;  La  Potherie, 
Histoire,  vol.  iii,  13  ff ;  Charlevoix,  Histoire,  vol.  iii,  284  ff."-TA!LHAN. 


one]  MARRIAGE    AMONG    THE    SAVAGES  75 

man  to  carry  the  load  if  the  woman  finds  herself  too 
heavily  burdened,  or  the  child  if  it  is  unable  to  follow 
them ;  when  these  difficulties  do  not  occur,  he  marches 
at  his  ease,  carrying  only  his  weapons. 

III.  Occupations  of  the  woman 
The  obligations  of  the  women  are  to  carry  into  the 
cabin  (of  which  she  is  the  mistress)  the  meat  which  the 
husband  leaves  at  the  door,  and  to  dry  it;  to  take  charge 
of  the  cooking;  to  go  to  get  the  fish  at  the  landing,  and 
clean  it;  to  make  twine,  in  order  to  provide  nets  for  the 
men ;  to  furnish  firewood ;  to  raise  and  harvest  the  grain ; 
not  to  fail  in  supplying  shoes  for  the  entire  family,  and 
to  dry  those  of  her  husband  and  give  them  to  him  when 
he  needs  them.  The  women  also  are  obliged  to  go  to 
bring  water,  if  they  have  no  servants  in  the  house;  to 
make  bags*  for  holding  the  grain,  and  mats  of  rushes 
(either  flat,  or  round,  or  long)  to  serve  as  roofing  for 
the  cabins  or  as  mattresses.  Finally,  it  is  for  them  to 
dress  the  skins  of  the  animals  which  the  husband  kills 
in  hunting,  and  to  make  robes  of  those  which  have  fur. 
When  they  are  traveling,  the  women  carry  the  roofing 

*  Many  varieties  of  bags  and  pouches  were  made  by  the  Indians  of  the 
United  States  and  were  used  for  a  great  number  of  purposes,"  especially  to  serve 
in  place  of  pockets  in  garments,  and  for  a  means  of  transportation.  "The  pouch 
was  a  receptacle  of  flexible  material  for  containing  various  objects  and  substances 
of  personal  use  and  ceremony,  and  was  generally  an  adjunct  of  costume.  The  bag, 
larger  and  simpler,  was  used  for  the  gathering,  transportation,  and  storage  of 
game  and  other  food.  The  material  was  tawed  leather  of  various  kinds,  tanned 
leather,  rawhide,  fur  skins,  skins  of  birds;  the  bladder,  stomach,  or  pericardium 
of  animals;  cord  of  babiche,  buckskin  or  wool,  hair,  bark,  fiber,  grass,  and  the 
like;  basketry,  cloth,  beadwork,  etc."  These  receptacles  were  of  many  shapes 
and  sizes,  and  often  were  provided  with  flaps,  or  with  straps  or  thongs  for 
attaching  them  to  shoulder  or  belt,  or  for  suspending  them  from  neck  or  fore- 
head. "Most  bags  and  pouches  were  ornamented,  and  in  very  few  other  belong- 
ings of  the  Indian  were  displayed  such  fertility  of  invention  and  such  skill  in 
the  execution  of  the  decorative  and  symbolic  designs."  —  WALTER  HOUGH,  in 
Handbook  Amer.  Indians. 


76  NICOLAS   PERROT  [Vol. 

for  the  cabin,  if  there  is  no  canoe.  They  apply  them- 
selves to  fashioning  dishes  of  bark,  and  their  husbands 
make  the  wooden  dishes.  They  fabricate  many  curious 
little  articles  which  are  much  in  demand  by  our  French 
people,  and  which  they  even  send  to  France  as  rarities.49 

IV.     Of  the  children 

When  a  child,  either  boy  or  girl,  has  reached  the  age 
of  five  or  six  months,  the  father  and  mother  make  a  feast 
with  the  best  provisions  that  they  have,  to  which  they 
invite  a  juggler  with  five  or  six  of  his  disciples.  This 
juggler  is  one  of  those  who  formerly  offered  sacrifices 
[to  their  divinities]  ;  he  will  be  described  in  the  follow- 
ing pages.  The  father  of  the  family  addresses  him,  and 
tells  him  that  he  is  invited  in  order  to  pierce  the  nose 
and  ears  of  his  child;  and  that  he  is  offering  this  feast  to 
the  sun,  or  to  some  other  pretended  divinity  whose  name 
he  mentions,  entreating  that  divinity  to  take  pity  on  his 
child  and  preserve  its  life.  The  juggler  then  replies, 
according  to  custom,  and  makes  his  invocation  to  the 
spirit  whom  the  father  has  chosen.  Food  is  presented  to 
this  man  and  his  disciples,  and  if  any  is  left  they  are 
permitted  to  carry  it  away  with  them.  When  they  have 
finished  their  meal,  the  mother  of  the  child  places  before 
the  guests  some  peltries,  kettles,  or  other  wares,  and 

49  "All  that  Perrot  says  here  of  the  occupations,  and  of  the  respective  shares 
of  the  man  and  the  woman  in  the  tasks  of  the  household,  has  been  reproduced 
by  Charlevoix  (Histoire,  vol.  iii,  331-334),  and  is  in  entire  accord  with  the 
details  given  upon  the  same  subject,  not  only  by  Champlain  (Voyages,  292,  293) 
but  by  the  Relations  of  early  missionaries.  See  especially  those  of  1633  and  of 
1634  (chap,  v)  ;  also  Charlevoix  (ut  supra],  and  Father  Lafitau  (Mceurs  des 
sauvages,  vol.  ii,  3,  63  ff.,  106  ff).  Among  the  Illinois  it  was  very  nearly  the 
same,  except  that  the  women  there  worked  still  more  (Lett,  edif.,  vol.  vi,  179, 
329).  Further  on,  we  see  that  the  Huron  men,  as  an  exception  to  the  custom  in 
force  among  all  the  other  savage  tribes  in  Canada,  shared  with  their  women 
the  labors  of  the  fields.  Among  the  Tounika  of  Louisiana  the  men  took  as  their 
part  all  the  toilsome  labors,  and  left  to  their  women  only  the  care  of  the  house- 
hold (Gravier,  Voyage,  30) ."  —  TAILHAN. 


one]          MARRIAGE   AMONG   THE    SAVAGES  77 

places  her  child  in  the  arms  of  the  juggler,  who  gives  it 
to  one  of  his  disciples  to  hold.  After  he  has  ended  his 
song  in  honor  of  the  spirit  invoked,  he  takes  from  his 
pouch  a  flat  bodkin  made  of  a  bone,  and  a  stout  awl,50 
and  with  the  former  pierces  both  ears  of  the  child,  and 
with  the  awl  its  nose.  He  fills  the  wounds  in  the  ears 
with  little  rolls  of  bark,  and  in  the  nose  he  places  the  end 
of  a  small  quill,  and  leaves  it  there  until  the  wound  is 
healed  by  a  certain  ointment  with  which  he  dresses  it. 
When  it  has  healed,  he  places  in  the  aperture  some  down 
of  the  swan  or  the  wild  goose. 

This  child  has  for  a  cradle  a  very  light  piece  of 
board,  which  is  ornamented  at  the  head  with  glass  beads 
or  bells,  or  with  porcelain  beads  either  round  or  long. 
If  the  father  is  a  good  hunter,  he  has  all  his  adornments* 
placed  on  the  cradle ;  when  the  child  is  a  boy,  a  bow  is 
attached  to  it;  but  if  it  is  a  girl,  only  the  mere  ornaments 
are  on  it.  When  the  child  cries,  its  mother  quiets  it  by 
singing  a  song  that  describes  the  duties  of  a  man,  for  her 

60  "The  aboriginal  American  awl  is  a  sharpened  stick,  bone,  stone,  or  piece 
of  metal,  used  as  a  perforator  in  sewing.  It  was  universal  among  Indians  from 
the  earliest  times,  and  is  one  of  the  familiar  archaeologic  objects  recovered  from 
excavations  in  prehistoric  sites."  The  awl  was  used  to  make  perforations 
through  which  thread  of  sinew  or  other  sewing  material  was  passed  when  skins 
for  moccasins,  clothing,  tents,  etc.,  were  sewed,  and  in  quillwork,  beadwork,  and 
basket  work.  Other  uses  for  awls  were  for  making  holes  for  pegs  in  woodwork, 
as  a  gauge  in  canoe-making,  for  shredding  sinew,  for  graving,  etc.,"  and 
various  implements  resembling  awls  were  used  for  many  other  purposes.  "The 
awl  was  so  indispensable  in  everyday  work  that  it  was  usually  carried  on  the 
person,  and  many  kinds  of  sheaths  and  cases  were  made  for  holding  it;"  these 
were  of  various  materials,  and  often  handsomely  ornamented.  —  WALTER  HOUGH, 
in  Handbook  Amer.  Indians. 

The  primitive  tools  and  implements  used  by  the  aborigines  were  of  course 
early  replaced  by  the  improved  articles  of  European  manufacture ED. 

*The  text  here,  and  in  the  last  clause  of  this  period,  reads  apiffements, 
which  is  probably  a  copyist's  error  in  the  Ms.  used  by  Tailhan.  The  word 
should  be  attifements,  which  is  not  found  in  the  lexicons,  but  was  doubtless 
coined  by  Perrot  (or  else  was  current  in  his  day)  from  attifer,  meaning  "to 
adorn  or  bedeck  the  person."  —  CRAWFORD  LINDSAY,  official  translator  for  the 
Legislature  of  Quebec, 


78  NICOLAS   PERROT  [Vol. 

boy;  and  those  of  a  woman,  for  her  daughter.  As  soon 
as  the  child  begins  to  walk,  a  little  bow  with  stiff  straws 
is  given  to  a  boy,  so  that  he  may  amuse  himself  by  shoot- 
ing them.  When  he  has  grown  a  little  larger,  they  give 
him  little  arrows  of  very  light  weight;  but  when  he  has 
once  attained  the  age  of  eight  or  ten  years  he  occupies 
himself  with  hunting  squirrels  and  small  birds.  Thus 
he  is  trained  and  rendered  capable  of  becoming  some 
day  skilful  in  hunting.  Such  is  the  method  pursued  by 
the  upper  tribes;  those  down  here  no  longer  use  this  sort 
of  circumcisions,  and  do  not  call  in  jugglers  to  make 
them ;  the  father,  or  some  friend  of  the  family,  performs 
this  ceremony  without  any  further  formality. 

VIII.     Of  funerals  among  the  savages  of  the 

upper  country,  and  the  manner  in  which 

they  perform  the  obsequies 

When  an  Outaoiias,  or  other  savage  [of  that  region] 
is  at  the  point  of  death,  he  is  decked  with  all  the  orna- 
ments owned  by  the  family- 1  mean,  among  his  kindred 
and  his  connections  by  marriage.  They  dress  his  hair 
with  red  paint  mixed  with  grease,  and  paint  his  body 
and  his  face  red  with  vermilion;  they  put  on  him  one 
of  his  handsomest  shirts,  if  he  has  such,  and  he  is  clad 
with  a  jacket  and  a  blanket,  as  richly  as  possible ;  he  is, 
in  a  word,  as  properly  garbed  as  if  he  had  to  conduct 
the  most  solemn  ceremony.  They  take  care  to  adorn 
the  place  where  he  is  [lying]  with  necklaces  of  porce- 
lain and  glass  beads  (both  round  and  long),  or  other 
trinkets.  His  weapons  lie  beside  him,  and  at  his  feet 
generally  all  articles  that  he  has  used  in  war  during  his 
life.  All  his  relatives -and,  above  all,  the  jugglers  - 
are  near  him.  When  the  sick  man  seems  to  be  in  agony, 
and  struggles  to  yield  up  his  last  breath,  the  women 


one]  FUNERAL   CUSTOMS  79 

and  girls  among  his  relations,  with  others  who  are  hired 
[for  this  purpose],  betake  themselves  to  mourning,  and 
begin  to  sing  doleful  songs,  in  which  mention  is  made 
of  the  degrees  of  relationship  which  they  have  with  the 
sufferer.  But  if  he  seems  to  be  recovering,  and  to  re- 
gain consciousness,  the  women  cease  their  weeping; 
but  they  recommence  their  cries  and  lamentations  when- 
ever the  patient  relapses  into  convulsions  or  faintness. 
When  he  is  dead  (or  a  moment  before  he  expires) ,  they 
raise  him  to  a  sitting  position,  his  back  supported,  [to 
look]  as  if  he  were  alive.  I  will  say  here,  in  passing, 
that  I  have  seen  some  savages  whose  death-agonies 
lasted  more  than  twenty-four  hours,  the  sick  man  mak- 
ing fearful  grimaces  and  contortions,  and  rolling  his 
eyes  in  the  most  frightful  manner;  you  would  have  be- 
lieved that  the  soul  of  the  dying  man  beheld  and 
dreaded  some  enemy,  although  he  was  lying  there  with- 
out recognizing  us,  and  almost  dead.  The  corpse  re- 
mains thus  sitting  until  the  next  day,  and  is  kept  in  this 
position  both  day  and  night  by  the  relatives  and  friends 
who  go  to  visit  the  family;  they  are  also  assisted  from 
time  to  time  by  some  old  man,  who  takes  his  place  near 
the  women  who  are  relatives  of  the  dead  man.  [One  of 
them]  begins  her  mournful  song,  while  she  weeps  hot 
tears ;  all  the  others  join  her  therein,  but  they  cease  to 
sing  at  the  same  time  when  she  does;  and  then  a  present 
is  given  to  her- a  piece  of  meat,  a  dish  of  corn,  or  some 
other  article. 

As  for  the  men,  they  do  not  weep,  for  that  would  be 
unworthy  of  them ;  the  father  alone  makes  it  evident,  by 
a  doleful  song,  that  there  is  no  longer  anything  in  the 
world  which  can  console  him  for  the  death  of  his  son. 
A  brother  follows  the  same  practice  for  his  elder  brother, 
when  he  has  received  from  the  latter  during  his  life  vis- 


8o  NICOLAS   PERROT [Vol. 

ible  marks  of  tenderness  and  affection.  In  such  case,  the 
brother  takes  his  place  naked,  his  face  smeared  with 
charcoal,  mingled  with  a  few  red  lines.  He  holds  in 
his  hands  his  bow  and  arrows,  as  if  he  intended  at  the 
start  to  go  against  some  enemy;  and,  singing  a  song  in  a 
most  furious  tone,  he  runs  like  a  lunatic  through  the  open 
places,  the  streets,  and  the  cabins  of  the  village,  without 
shedding  a  tear.  By  this  extraordinary  performance  he 
makes  known  to  all  who  see  him  how  great  is  his  sorrow 
for  the  death  of  his  brother;  this  softens  the  hearts  of  his 
neighbors,  and  obliges  them  to  provide  among  them- 
selves a  present,  which  they  come  to  offer  to  the  dead. 
In  the  speech  with  which  they  accompany  this  gift  they 
declare  that  it  is  made  in  order  to  wipe  away  the  tears 
of  his  relatives ;  and  that  the  mat  which  they  give  him 
is  for  him  to  lie  on,  or  [that  they  give]  a  piece  of  bark* 
to  shelter  his  corpse  from  the  injurious  effects  of  the 
weather. 

When  the  time  comes  for  burying  the  corpse,  they  go 
to  find  the  persons  designated  for  this  office ;  and  a  scaf- 
fold is  erected  seven  or  eight  feet  high,  which  serves  the 

*  "Among  the  resources  of  nature  utilized  by  the  tribes  of  North  America 
bark  was  of  prime  importance.  It  was  stripped  from  trees  at  the  right  season 
by  hacking  all  around  and  taking  it  off  in  sheets  of  desired  length.  The  inner 
bark  of  cedar,  elm,  and  other  trees  was  in  some  localities  torn  into  strips, 
shredded,  twisted,  and  spun  or  woven.  The  bark  of  wild  flax  (Apocynum) 
and  the  Asdepias  were  made  into  soft  textiles.  Bark  had  a  multitude  of  func- 
tions. .  .  It  supplied  many  tribes  with  an  article  of  diet  in  the  spring,  their 
period  of  greatest  need.  .  .  For  gathering,  carrying,  garnering,  preparing, 
and  serving  food,  the  bark  of  birch,  elm,  pine,  and  other  trees  was  so  handy  as 
to  discourage  the  potter's  art  among  non-sedentary  tribes.  It  was  wrought  into 
yarn,  twine,  rope,  wallets,  baskets,  mats,  canoes,  cooking-pots  for  hot  stones, 
dishes  for  serving,  vessels  for  storing,  and  many  textile  utensils  connected  with 
the  consumption  of  food  in  ordinary  and  social  life."  Bark  was  also  used  for 
the  roofs  and  sides  of  dwellings,  and  was  woven  into  matting  for  floors,  beds, 
and  partitions;  and  from  it  were  made  trays  and  boxes,  cradles,  and  coffins. 
The  thin  inner  bark  was  used  as  materials  for  clothing.  Bark  furnished  ma- 
terials for  basketry,  dyeing,  implements  for  hunting  and  fishing,  tribal  records, 
and  ceremonial  usages.  -  OTIS  T.  MASON,  in  Handbook  Amer.  Indians. 


one]  FUNERAL   CUSTOMS  81 

dead  in  place  of  a  grave -or,  if  he  is  placed  in  the 
ground,  they  dig  for  him  a  grave  only  four  or  five  feet 
deep.  During  all  this  time,  the  family  of  him  whose 
funeral  is  solemnized  exert  all  their  energies  to  bring 
him  grain,  or  peltries,  or  other  goods,  [which  they  place] 
either  on  the  scaffold  or  near  the  grave ;  and  when  one 
or  the  other  is  completed  they  carry  thither  the  corpse, 
in  the  same  position  which  it  had  at  death,  and  clothed 
with  the  same  fine  apparel.  Near  him  are  his  weapons, 
and  at  his  feet  all  the  articles  which  had  been  placed 
there  before  his  death.  When  the  funeral  ceremonies 
have  been  performed  and  the  body  buried,  the  family 
make  liberal  payment  to  those  who  took  part  therein,  by 
giving  them  a  kettle  or  some  porcelain  necklaces  for 
their  trouble.51 

51  "The  disposal  of  the  dead  by  the  Indians  may  be  classed  under  the  heads 
'Burial'  and  'Cremation.'  The  usual  mode  of  burial  among  North  American 
Indians  has  been  by  inhumation,  or  interment  in  pits,  graves,  or  holes  in  the 
ground,  in  stone  cists,  in  mounds,  beneath  or  in  cabin,  wigwams,  houses,  or 
lodges,  or  in  caves.  .  .  Embalmment  and  mummification  were  practiced  to  a 
limited  extent;  the  former  chiefly  in  Virginia,  the  Carolinas,  and  Florida,  and 
the  latter  in  Alaska.  .  .  Scaffold  and  tree  burial  was  practiced  in  Wisconsin, 
Minnesota,  the  Dakotas,  Montana,  etc.,  by  the  Chippewa,  Sioux  .  .  .  and 
other  Indians.  The  burial  mounds  of  Wisconsin  indicate  this  mode  of  disposing 
of  the  dead  in  former  times,  as  the  skeletons  were  buried  after  the  removal  of 
the  flesh,  and  the  bones  frequently  indicate  long  exposure  to  the  air.  .  .  It 
was  also  the  custom  among  the  Indians  of  the  Lake  region  to  have  at  certain 
periods  what  may  be  termed  communal  burials,  in  which  the  bodies  or  skeletons 
of  a  district  were  removed  from  their  temporary  burial  places  and  deposited 
with  much  ceremony  in  a  single  large  pit"  (see  Brebeuf's  account,  in  Jesuit  Re- 
lations, vol.  x,  279-311,  of  "the  solemn  feast  of  the  dead").  "Cremation  was 
formerly  practiced  by  a  number  of  tribes  of  the  Pacific  slope.  The  ancient 
inhabitants  of  southern  Arizona  practiced  cremation  in  addition  to  house  burial, 
the  ashes  of  the  cremated  dead  being  placed  in  urns;  but  among  the  modern 
Pueblos,  especially  those  most  affected  by  Spanish  missionaries,  burials  are 
made  in  cemeteries  in  the  villages.  The  ceremonies  attending  and  following 
burial  were  various.  The  use  of  fire  was  common,  and  it  was  also  a  very  gen- 
eral custom  to  place  food,  articles  especially  prized  by  or  of  interest  to  the  dead, 
and  sometimes  articles  having  a  symbolic  signification,  in  or  near  the  grave. 
Scarifying  the  body,  cutting  the  hair,  and  blackening  the  face  by  the  mourners 
were  common  customs,  as,  in  some  tribes,  were  feasts  and  dancing  at  a  death  or 
funeral.  As  a  rule  the  bereaved  relatives  observed  some  kind  of  mourning  for 


82  NICOLAS   PERROT  [Vol. 

All  the  people  in  the  village  are  obliged  to  attend  the 
funeral  procession ;  and,  when  all  is  over,  one  man  among 
them  all  steps  forward,  who  holds  in  his  hand  a  little 
wooden  rod,  as  large  as  one's  finger  and  some  five  inches 
long,  which  he  throws  into  the  midst  of  the  crowd,  for 
him  who  can  catch  it.  When  it  has  fallen  into  some  per- 
son's hand  the  rest  try  to  snatch  it  from  him ;  if  it  falls 
on  the  ground  every  one  tries  to  reach  it  to  pick  it  up, 
pulling  and  pushing  each  other  so  violently  that  in  less 
than  half  an  hour  it  has  passed  through  the  hands  of  all 
those  who  are  present.  If  at  last  any  one  of  the  crowd 
can  get  possession  of  it,  and  display  it  to  them  without 
any  one  taking  it  from  him,  he  sells  it  for  a  fixed  price 
to  the  first  person  who  desires  to  buy  it;  this  price  will 
be  very  often  a  kettle,  a  gun,  or  a  blanket.  The  by- 
standers are  then  notified  to  be  present  again,  on  some 
day  appointed,  for  a  similar  ceremony;  and  this  is  done, 
sometimes  quite  often,  as  I  have  just  related. 

After  this  diversion,  public  notice  is  given  that  there 
is  another  prize,  to  be  given  to  the  best  runner  among 
the  young  men.  The  goal  of  this  race  is  indicated,  [and 
the  course  is  marked  out]  from  the  place  where  the  run- 
ners must  start  to  that  which  they  are  to  reach.  All  the 
young  men  adorn  themselves,  and  form  in  a  long  row  on 
the  open  plain.  At  the  first  call  of  the  man  who  is  to 
give  the  signal,  they  commence  to  run,  at  some  distance 
from  the  village,  and  the  first  one  who  arrives  there 
carries  away  the  prize. 

a  certain  period,  as  cutting  the  hair,  discarding  ornaments,  and  neglecting  the 
personal  appearance,  carrying  a  bundle  representing  the  husband  (among  the 
Chippewa,  etc.),  or  the  bones  of  the  dead  husband  (among  some  northern  Atha- 
pascan tribes),  and  wailing  morning  and  night  in  solitary  places.  It  was  a 
custom  among  some  tribes  to  change  the  name  of  the  family  of  the  deceased, 
and  to  drop  the  name  of  the  dead  in  whatever  connection."  See  especially 
Yarrow's  "Mortuary  Customs  of  the  North  American  Indians,"  in  the  first 
Report  of  the  Bureau  of  Amer.  Ethnology.  -  CYRUS  THOMAS,  in  Handbook  Amer. 
Indians,  art.  "Mortuary  Customs." 


one]  FUNERAL   CUSTOMS  83 

A  few  days  afterward  the  relatives  of  the  dead  man 
give  a  feast  of  meat  and  corn,  to  which  are  invited  all 
the  villagers  who  are  not  connected  with  them  by  mar- 
riage and  who  are  descended  from  other  families  than 
their  own -and  especially  those  persons  who  have  made 
presents  to  the  dead.  They  also  invite,  if  any  such  are 
found,  strangers  who  have  come  from  other  villages ;  and 
they  inform  all  the  guests  that  it  is  the  dead  man  who 
gives  them  this  feast.  If  it  is  one  of  meat,  they  take  a 
piece  of  this,  as  well  as  of  other  kinds  of  food,  which  they 
must  place  upon  the  grave;  and  the  women,  girls,  and 
children  are  permitted  to  eat  these  morsels,  but  not  the 
grown  men,  for  these  must  regard  such  act  as  unworthy 
of  them.  At  this  feast  each  is  free  to  eat  what  he  wishes, 
and  to  carry  the  rest  [of  his  portion]  home  with  him. 
Considerable  presents  in  goods  are  given  to  all  those 
strangers  who  have  previously  made  presents  to  the  dead 
person ;  but  these  are  not  given  to  his  own  tribesmen.  The 
guests  are  then  thanked  for  having  remembered  the 
dead,  and  congratulated  on  their  charitable  disposi- 
tions." 

II.     The  mourning  of  the  savages,  in  general 

I  have  already  described  the  mourning  of  husbands 
and  of  wives,  each  for  the  other;  but  not  all  the  savages 
who  are  under  obligation  to  observe  the  general  mourn- 
ing put  grease  or  vermilion  on  the  face  and  hair.  If  it 

62  "With  the  description  given  by  Perrot  of  burial  and  mourning  among  the 
savages  may  be  compared  what  is  said  on  the  same  subject  by  Biard  (Rela- 
tion, chap,  viii),  Champlain  (Voyages,  303),  and,  among  the  Relations  of  New 
France,  those  of  1636  (chap,  viii)  and  of  1639  (chap.  K).  It  is  these  sources 
from  which  all  the  historians  of  Canada  have  drawn  — La  Potherie  (Histoire, 
vol.  ii,  43-45),  Lafitau  (Mceurs  des  sauvagts,  vol.  ii,  388  ff.),  Charlevoix 
(Histoire,  vol.  iii,  371-376),  and  Monsieur  Ferland  (Cours  d'histoire,  vol.  i,  101, 
102).  The  Illinois  did  not  inter  their  dead.  The  corpse,  carefully  wrapped  in 
«kins,  was  attached  by  the  head  and  feet  to  the  upper  part  of  trees  (Lett,  edif., 
vol.  vi,  178,  179)."  — TAILHAN. 


84  NICOLAS    PERROT  [Vol. 

is  a  chief  who  has  died,  his  near  relative  may  not  con- 
verse, save  in  a  very  low  tone  with  that  one  of  his  friends 
who  is  commissioned  to  express  his  wishes ;  he  is  obliged 
to  avoid  social  intercourse  and  worldly  conversation ;  he 
may,  however,  be  present  at  feasts  to  which  he  is  in- 
vited, but  may  not  utter  a  word  while  there.  When  pres- 
ents are  brought  to  him  for  the  dead  man,  that  [official] 
friend  receives  them  and  returns  thanks  for  him.  It 
must  be  noted  that  the  children  and  young  people  of 
both  sexes  are  not  under  obligation  to  this  general  mourn- 
ing; it  is  only  adult  persons  who  cannot  excuse  them- 
selves from  it.  It  lasts  a  whole  year,  at  the  end  of  which 
time  the  relatives  assemble  to  adopt  a  person  who  is 
qualified  to  assume  the  office  of  the  dead  chief,  and  who 
must  be  of  the  same  rank.  As  for  women,  girls,  or  boys, 
a  similar  usage  prevails,  [the  adopted  one  being]  of  the 
same  age  and  sex  [as  the  dead].  Then  they  adorn  them- 
selves and  paint  themselves  with  vermilion,  each  person 
remaining  in  his  place  in  the  cabin.  The  parents  of  the 
departed  man  or  woman  are  present  therein,  also  clad 
with  the  best  garments  that  they  possess. 

At  the  outset,  three  persons  are  requested  to  sing,  and 
to  beat  the  drum,53  keeping  time  with  the  measure  of 
their  song.  The  person,  whether  man  or  woman,  who 
has  been  adopted  immediately  enters  the  cabin  of  the 
departed,  dancing;  and  after  he  has  offered  presents, 
composed  of  peltries  or  other  goods,  to  the  nearest  rela- 
tive of  the  deceased  person  whose  place  the  newcomer 
has  taken,  he  continues  dancing  all  day  to  the  sound  of 
that  instrument,  which  is  ordinarily  the  guide  for  the 
dancing  of  the  savages.  During  this  time  the  parents 
of  the  departed  stop  him  occasionally  in  his  dancing,  to 
place  some  adornments  on  his  body  or  his  neck;  or  else 

63  This  drum  is  described  in  the  Relation  of  1634,  chap.  iv.  -  TAILHAN. 


one]  FUNERAL   CUSTOMS  85 

they  present  to  him  a  blanket,  shirt,  or  cloak;  and  they 
paint  him  with  vermilion,  and  adorn  him  as  handsomely 
as  they  can.  When  the  dance  is  ended,  they  give  him 
food,  with  various  presents,  in  memory  of  him  whose 
place  he  has  taken,  in  whose  behalf  he  danced  and  ap- 
peared on  this  solemn  occasion.  This  man,  or  this  wo- 
man, assures  the  family  that  he  or  she  will  always  be 
ready  to  render  them  all  the  services  which  shall  be  with- 
in their  power -whether  to  cook  and  serve  the  food  at 
their  feasts,  or  to  discharge  any  commissions  which  may 
be  entrusted  to  them.  In  fine,  these  who  are  adopted 
yield  themselves  to  serve  as  attendants  or  servants  of  the 
family;  moreover,  when  they  have  anything  of  value 
they  carry  the  greater  part  of  it  to  their  master;  and  they 
regard  themselves  as  united  to  this  family,  as  much  as  if 
they  were  actually  kindred.5* 


54  The  reasons  for  adopting  a  living  person  to  take  the  place  of  the  dead  — 
thus,  in  Indian  phrase,  "bringing  back  the  dead  to  life"  —  are  given  in  the 
Relation  of  1642,  chap.  xii.  See  also  those  of  1636  (chap,  viii),  of  1644  (chap, 
xiv),  of  1646  (chap,  x),  and  of  1669  (chap.  vii).  —  TAILHAN. 

Adoption  was  "an  almost  universal  political  and  social  institution  which 
originally  dealt  only  with  persons  but  later  with  families,  clans  or  gentes,  bands, 
and  tribes.  It  had  its  beginnings  far  back  in  the  history  of  primitive  society 
and,  after  passing  through  many  forms  and  losing  much  ceremonial  garb,  ap- 
pears to-day  in  the  civilized  institution  of  naturalization.  In  the  primitive 
mind  the  fundamental  motive  underlying  adoption  was  to  defeat  the  evil  purpose 
of  death  to  remove  a  member  of  a  kinship  group,  by  actually  replacing  in 
person  the  lost  or  dead  member."  By  a  fiction  of  law,  the  personality  as  well 
as  the  political  status  might  be  changed  by  adoption,  as  when  two  sisters  were 
adopted  into  different  clans.  "From  the  political  adoption  of  the  Tuscarora  by 
the  Five  Nations,  about  1726,  it  is  evident  that  tribes,  families,  clans,  and  groups 
of  people  could  be  adopted  like  persons."  The  person  adopted  received  a 
personal  name  and  a  kinship  name  (as  "son"  or  "uncle"),  and  even  a  fictitious 
age  might  be  conferred  on  him.  In  the  Iroquois  League,  there  were  various 
grades  of  adoption  for  other  peoples  admitted  to  the  confederacy,  by  which  they 
were  made  probationers  for  citizenship,  which  would  be  granted  after  they  had 
received  sufficient  tutelage.  This  adoption  of  tribes  was  practiced  by  the 
Iroquois  in  order  to  recruit  the  great  losses  incurred  in  their  many  wars. 

—  J.  N.  B.  HEWITT,  in  Handbook  Amer.  Indians. 


86  NICOLAS   PERROT  [Vol. 

III.     The  manner  in  which  the  savages  celebrate  the 
feast  of  their  dead 

If  the  savages  intend  to  celebrate  the  feast  of  their  dead, 
they  take  care  to  make  the  necessary  provision  for  it  be- 
forehand. When  they  return  from  their  trade  with  the 
Europeans,  they  carry  back  with  them  the  articles  which 
suit  them  for  this  purpose ;  and  in  their  houses  they  lay  in 
a  store  of  meat,  corn,  peltries,  and  other  goods.  When 
they  return  from  their  hunting,  all  those  of  the  village 
come  together  to  solemnize  this  feast.  After  resolving  to 
do  so,  they  send  deputies  from  their  own  people  into  all 
the  neighboring  villages  that  are  allied  with  them,  and 
even  as  far  away  as  a  hundred  leagues  or  more,  to  invite 
those  people  to  attend  this  feast.  In  entreating  them  to  be 
present  at  it,  they  designate  the  time  which  had  been 
fixed  for  its  solemnization.  The  greater  part  of  the  men 
in  those  villages  who  are  invited  to  this  feast  set  out,  a 
number  in  each  canoe,  and  these  together  provide  a 
small  fund  with  which  to  offer  a  common  present  to  the 
village  which  has  invited  them,  on  their  arrival  there. 
Those  who  have  invited  them  make  ready  for  their 
coming  a  large  cabin,  stoutly  built  and  well  covered,  for 
lodging  and  entertaining  all  those  whom  they  expect. 
As  soon  as  all  the  people  have  arrived,  they  take  their 
places,  each  nation  separately  from  the  others,  at  the  ends 
and  in  the  middle  of  the  cabin,  and,  thus  assembled,  they 
offer  their  presents  and  lay  aside  their  [outer]  garments, 
^  saying  that  messengers  have  come  to  invite  them  to  pay 
their  respects  to  the  shades  and  the  memory  of  the  de- 
parted in  that  village ;  and  immediately  they  begin  to 
dance  to  the  noise  of  a  drum  and  of  a  gourd  which  con- 
tains some  small  pebbles,  both  keeping  the  same  time. 
They  dance  from  one  end  to  the  other  of  the  cabin, 
returning  after  one  another,  in  single  file,  around  three 


one]  FUNERAL   CUSTOMS  87 

spruce-trees  or  three  cornstalks  which  are  set  up  there. 
During  these  dances,  people  are  at  work  preparing  the 
meal ;  they  kill  dogs,  and  have  these  cooked  with  other 
viands  which  are  speedily  prepared.  When  all  is 
ready,  they  make  the  guests  rest  a  little  while,  and  after 
all  the  dances  are  ended  the  repast  is  served. 

I  omitted  to  state  that  as  soon  as  the  hosts  call  for  the 
dances  to  stop  they  take  from  their  guests  the  presents 
which  they  have  made,  and  all  their  garments;  and  in 
exchange  for  these  the  visitors  are  given,  by  those  who 
invited  them,  other  articles  of  clothing  which  are  more 
valuable.  If  the  hosts  have  just  returned  [from  the 
trading],55  these  are  shirts,  coats,  jackets,  stockings,  new 
blankets,  or  [packages  of]  paints  and  vermilion,  even 
though  the  guests  have  brought  only  old  garments -per- 
haps greasy  skins,  or  robes  [made  from  the  skins]  of 
beavers,  wild-cats,  bears,  and  other  animals. 

When  those  who  are  invited  from  the  other  villages 
have  all  arrived,  the  same  entry  and  the  same  reception 
are  provided  for  the  people  of  each  village.  When  all 
are  assembled,  they  are  expected  to  dance  all  at  the  same 
time  during  three  consecutive  days;  and  during  this 
period  one  of  the  hosts  invites  to  a  feast  at  his  own  house 
about  twenty  persons,  who  are  chosen  and  sent  out  by 
their  own  people.  But  instead  of  serving  food  at  this 
feast,  it  is  presents  which  are  offered  to  the  guests,  such 
as  kettles,  hatchets,  and  other  articles  from  the  trade; 
there  is,  however,  nothing  to  eat.  The  presents  which 
they  have  received  belong  in  common  to  the  tribesmen ; 
if  these  were  articles  of  food,  they  can  eat  them,  which 
accordingly  they  do  very  punctually,  for  their  appetites 

55  "There  is  evidently  a  lacuna  of  several  words  here.  As  there  is,  in  this 
passage  mention  of  presents  of  which  the  European  origin  could  not  be  doubted, 
I  have  restored  the  mutilated  phrase  thus:  S'ils  reviennent  de  la  traitte,  ce  sont, 
etc."  -  TAILHAN. 


88  NICOLAS   PERROT  [Vol. 

never  fail  them.  Another  of  the  hosts  will  do  the  same 
for  other  dancers,  who  will  be  invited  to  come  to  his 
house,  and  see  how  his  people  treat  [their  guests]  -until 
all  those  of  the  [entertaining]  village  have  in  turn  given 
feasts  of  this  sort.  During  [these]  three  days  they  lavish 
all  that  they  possess  in  trade-goods  or  other  articles ;  and 
they  reduce  themselves  to  such  an  extreme  of  poverty 
that  they  do  not  even  reserve  for  themselves  a  single 
hatchet  or  knife.  Very  often  they  keep  back  for  their 
own  use  only  one  old  kettle ;  and  the  sole  object  for  which 
they  incur  all  this  expenditure  is,  that  they  may  render 
the  souls  of  the  departed  more  happy  and  more  highly 
\j~espected  in  the  country  of  the  dead.  For  the  savages 
believe  that  they  are  under  the  strictest  obligation  to 
perform,  in  the  honors  which  they  pay  to  their  dead,  all 
that  I  have  related,  and  that  it  is  only  this  sort  of  lavish 
spending  which  can  fully  secure  rest  for  the  departed 
souls;  for  it  is  the  custom  among  those  people  to  give 
whatever  they  possess,  without  reservation,  in  the  cere- 
monies of  funerals  or  of  other  superstitions.  There  are 
still  some  of  those  savages  who  have  sucked  the  milk  of 
religion,  who  nevertheless  have  not  wholly  laid  aside 
ideas  of  this  sort,  and  who  bury  with  the  corpse  whatever 
belonged  to  the  person  during  his  life.  Solemnities  of 
this  kind  for  the  dead  were  formerly  celebrated  every 
[/  |  year,  each  tribe  being  alternately  hosts  and  guests ;  but 
for  several  years  past  this  has  been  no  longer  the  custom, 
except  among  some  few  [villages].  The  Frenchmen 
who  have  gone  among  them  have  made  them  realize 
that  these  useless  extravagances  of  theirs  were  ruining 
their  families,  and  reducing  them  to  a  lack  of  even  the 
necessities  of  life.56 

56  Regarding  the  great  feast  of  the  dead,  among  not  only  the  Hurons  but 
the  upper  Algonquins,  cf.  Champlain,  Voyages,  303,  304;  the  Relations  of  1636 
(chap,  ix)  and  of  i6*z  (chap,  xii)  ;  La  Potherie,  Histoire,  vol.  ii,  47;  Lafitau, 


one]  BELIEF  REGARDING  IMMORTALITY          89 

IX.     Belief    of   the   unconverted    savages   in 

regard  to  the  immortality  of  the  soul, 

and  the  place  where  the  departed 

dwell  forever 

All  the  savages  who  are  not  converted  believe  that  the 
soul  is  immortal;57  but  they  maintain  that  when  it  is 
separated  from  the  body  it  goes  to  a  beautiful  and  fertile 
land,  where  the  climate  is  neither  cold  nor  hot,  but  agree- 
ably temperate.  They  say  that  that  land  abounds  with 
animals  and  birds  of  every  kind,  and  that  the  hunters 
while  going  through  it  are  never  in  danger  of  hunger, 
having  only  to  choose  what  animals  they  will  attack,  to 
obtain  food.  They  tell  us  that  this  beautiful  country  is 
very  far  away,  beyond  this  earth ;  and  it  is  for  this  rea- 
son that  they  place  on  the  scaffolds  or  in  the  graves  of  the 
dead,  at  their  funerals,  provisions  and  weapons,  believ- 
ing that  the  souls  will  find  again  in  the  other  world,  for 
their  use,  and  especially  in  the  voyage  which  they  must 
make  thither,  whatever  shall  be  given  to  them  in  this 
world. 

They  believe,  furthermore,  that  as  soon  as  the  soul  has 
left  the  body  it  enters  this  charming  country,58  and  that, 
after  having  traveled  many  days,  it  encounters  on  its 

Mceurs  des  sauvages,  vol.  ii,  446-457;  Charlevoix,  Histoire,  vol.  iii,  377,  378. 

-  TAILHAN. 

57  The  early  writers  fully  confirm  the  strength  and  universality  of  this  belief, 
among  the   savage  tribes  of  America,   in  the   immortality  of  the   soul.     See 
Cartier,  Seconde  navigation,  chap,  x,  50  (Quebec,  1843)  ;  Champlain,  Voyages, 
127;  Biard,  Relation,  chap,  viii;  Lallemand  in  Relation  of  1626;  Relations  —  of 
1634   (chap,  iv),  of  1636   (chap,  ii),  of  1637   (chap,  xi),  of  1639   (chap,  x)  ; 
Lett,  edif.,  vol.  vii,  ii,  12.     "I  know  of  but  a  single  exception  to  this  general 
consent.     The  Peouaroua  Illinois  declared  to  Father  Gravier  that  man  perished 
utterly,  and  that,  if  the  soul  survived,  we  would  see  the  dead  return  to  the 
earth  (Relation  de  la  mission  de  Notre  Dame)"  —  TAILHAN. 

58  Cf.  various  passages  in  the  Relation  of  1636,  chap,  ii  and  ix.  —  TAILHAN. 
Cf.  traditions  among  the  (modern)  Winnebagoes,  recorded  in  Wis.  Hist.  Col- 
lections, vol.  xiii,  467.  —  ED. 


go  NICOLAS   PERROT  [Vol. 

route  a  very  rapid  river,  over  which  there  is  only  a 
slender  tree-trunk  by  way  of  bridge;  and  that  in  passing 
over  this  it  bends  so  much  that  the  soul  is  in  danger  of 
being  swept  away  by  the  flood  of  waters.  They  assert 
that  if  unfortunately  this  mishap  occurs,  the  soul  will  be 
drowned ;  but  that  all  these  perils  are  escaped  when  once 
the  souls  have  reached  the  country  of  the  dead.  They 
believe  also  that  the  souls  of  young  people,  of  either  sex, 
have  nothing  to  fear,  because  they  are  so  vigorous ;  but 
it  is  not  the  same  with  those  of  the  old  people  and  the 
infants  who  have  no  assistance  from  other  souls  in  this 
dangerous  crossing,  and  it  is  this  which  very  often  causes 
them  to  perish. 

They  relate  to  us,  moreover,  that  this  same  river 
abounds  with  fish,  more  in  number  than  can  be  imagined. 
There  are  sturgeons  and  other  kinds  of  fish  in  great  num- 
bers, which  the  souls  kill  with  blows  of  their  hatchets 
and  clubs,  so  that  they  can  roast  these  fish  while  on  their 
journey,  for  they  no  longer  find  therein  any  game.  After 
they  have  traveled  a  long  time,  in  front  of  them  appears 
a  very  steep  mountain,  which  closes  their  path  and  com- 
pels them  to  seek  another;  but  they  do  not  find  any  way 
open,  and  it  is  only  after  experiencing  great  suffering 
that  they  finally  arrive  at  this  fearful  passage.  There 
two  pestles  of  prodigious  size,  which  in  turn  rise  and  fall 
without  ceasing,  form  an  obstacle  most  difficult  to  over- 
come; for  death  is  absolutely  inevitable  if  while  making 
the  passage  one  is  unfortunately  caught  under  [them]  - 
I  mean,  while  one  of  the  two  pestles  is  falling.59  But  the 
souls  are  very  careful  in  watching  for  that  fortunate 

89  "A  contradictory  statement;  for  if  the  soul  is  immortal  it  cannot  be  killed, 
either  by  the  water  or  by  the  pestle."  —  ANON. 

"Certainly;  but  it  is  not  a  question  of  finding  a  logical  procedure  in  the 
assertions  of  savages.  The  real  question  reduces  itself  to  ascertaining  whether 
this  belief  actually  existed  among  them,  and  not  whether  it  is  reasonable  or 
absurd."  _  TAILHAN. 


one]  BELIEF  REGARDING  IMMORTALITY          91 

moment  when  they  can  clear  a  passage  so  dangerous ;  yet 
many  fail  in  it,  especially  those  of  old  persons  and  little 
children,  who  are  less  vigorous  and  move  through  it 
more  slowly. 

When  the  souls  have  once  escaped  from  this  peril, 
they  enter  a  delightful  country,  in  which  excellent  fruits 
are  found  in  abundance;  and  the  ground  seems  to  be 
covered  with  all  kinds  of  flowers,  the  odor  of  which  is  so 
admirable  that  it  delights  their  hearts  and  charms  their 
imaginations.  The  short  remaining  distance  which  they 
must  traverse  before  arriving  in  the  place  where  the 
sound  of  the  drum  and  the  gourds -marking  time  for 
[the  steps  of]  the  dead,  to  give  them  pleasure -falls 
agreeably  on  their  ears,  urges  them  on  to  hasten  directly 
thither  with  great  eagerness.  The  nearer  they  approach 
it,  always  the  louder  becomes  this  sound;  and  the  joy 
which  the  dancers  express  by  their  continual  exclama- 
tions serves  to  delight  the  souls  still  more.  When  they 
are  very  near  the  place  where  the  ball  is  held,  part  of 
the  dead  men  separate  from  the  others  in  order  to  meet 
the  newcomers,  and  assure  them  of  the  great  pleasure 
which  their  arrival  generally  gives  to  the  entire  assem- 
bly. The  souls  are  conducted  into  the  place  where  the 
dance  is  held,  and  are  cordially  received  by  all  who  are 
there;  and  they  find  there  innumerable  viands,  of  all 
flavors,  everything  of  the  most  delicious  taste,  and  pre- 
pared in  the  best  manner.  It  is  for  them  to  choose  what- 
ever pleases  them,  and  to  satisfy  their  appetites;  and 
when  they  have  finished  eating  they  go  to  mingle  with 
the  others -to  dance  and  make  merry  forever,  without 
being  any  longer  subject  to  sorrow,  anxiety,  or  infirmi- 
ties, or  to  any  of  the  vicissitudes  of  mortal  life. 

Such  is  the  opinion  of  the  savages  in  regard  to  the  im- 
mortality of  the  soul.  It  is  a  mere  dream,  although  one 


92  NICOLAS   PERROT  [Vol. 

of  the  most  absurd  that  can  be  invented ;  and  they  give 
[credit]  to  it  with  so  much  obstinacy  that,  when  one 
tries  to  make  them  see  its  extravagance,  they  answer  to 
Europeans  who  talk  thus  with  them  that  we  [white  men] 
have  a  special  country  for  our  dead ;  and  that  they,  hav- 
ing been  created  by  spirits  who  dwelt  together  in  friend- 
ly intercourse  and  were  all  good  friends,  had  selected  in 
the  other  world  a  country  different  from  their  own. 
They  maintain  that  this  is  an  undoubted  truth,  and  that 
they  have  learned  it  from  their  ancestors.  These  fore- 
fathers once  went  so  far  in  a  military  expedition  that, 
after  they  had  found  the  end  and  farthest  limit  of  the 
earth,  they  passed  through  this  gate  of  the  pestles  which 
I  have  just  described,  before  entering  that  beautiful 
country;  and  then  they  heard  at  a  little  distance  the 
sounds  of  beating  the  drums  and  rattling  the  gourds. 
Their  curiosity  having  induced  them  to  go  forward,  in 
order  to  ascertain  what  this  was,  they  were  discovered  by 
the  dead,  who  came  toward  them ;  and  then,  when  they 
tried  to  flee,  they  were  quickly  overtaken  and  conducted 
into  the  cabins  of  these  inhabitants  of  the  other  world, 
who  received  them  with  the  utmost  good-will.  After- 
ward they  escorted  these  men  as  far  as  the  gateway  of  the 
pestles,  which  stopped  their  motion,  to  enable  them  to 
pass  without  danger;  and  the  dead  men,  in  leaving  them 
there,  told  them  not  to  come  back  again  until  after  they 
should  die,  lest  some  evil  should  happen  to  them.60 


60  Cf.  La  Pothcrie,  Histoire,  vol.  ii,  45;  Charlevoix,  Histoire,  vol.  iii,  351- 
353 ;  Lafitau,  Mcnirs  des  sauvages,  vol.  i,  401-404,  409,  410.  -  TAILHAN. 


one]  GAMES   AND   AMUSEMENTS  93 

X.     The  games  and  amusements  of 
the  savages 

I.     The  game  of  crosse 

The  savages  have  several  kinds  of  games,  in  which 
they  take  delight.  They  are  naturally  so  addicted  to 
these  that  they  will  give  up  their  food  and  drink,  not 
only  to  play  but  to  watch  the  game.  There  is  among 
them  a  certain  game,  called  crosse,61  which  has  much 
likeness  to  our  game  of  long  tennis.  Their  custom  in 
playing  it  is  to  oppose  tribe  to  tribe ;  and  if  one  of  these  is 
more  numerous  than  the  other,  men  are  drawn  from  it 
to  render  the  other  equal  to  it  [in  strength].  You  will 
see  them  all  equipped  with  the  crosse -which  is  a  light 
club,  having  at  one  end  a  broad  flat  part  that  is  netted 
like  a  [tennis]  racket;  the  ball  that  they  use  in  playing  is 
of  wood,  and  shaped  very  nearly  like  a  turkey's  egg. 
The  goals  for  the  game  are  marked  in  an  open  level 
space ;  these  goals  face  east  and  west,  south  and  north. 
In  order  to  win  the  game,  one  of  the  two  parties  must 
send  its  ball,  by  driving  it  [with  the  racket],  beyond  the 
goals  that  face  east  and  west;  and  the  other  [must  send] 
its  ball  beyond  those  to  the  south  and  north.  If  the  party 
which  has  once  won  sends  the  ball  again  beyond  the  east 
and  west  goals  from  the  side  that  it  had  to  win,  it  is 
obliged  to  recommence  the  game,  and  to  accept  the  goals 
of  the  opposing  party;  but  if  it  should  succeed  in  win- 
ning a  second  time,  it  would  have  accomplished  noth- 
ing-for,  as  the  parties  are  equal  in  strength,  and  are 
quits,  they  always  begin  the  game  again  in  order  to  act 

61  See  mention  of  this  game  —  which,  with  some  modifications,  became  "la- 
crosse," the  national  game  of  Canada  — in  Jesuit  Relations,  vol.  x,  185-187 
(played  for  sick),  197,  231,  326-328,  vol.  xiv,  47,  vol.  xv,  155,  179  (in  memory  of 
dead). -Eo. 


94  NICOLAS    PERROT  [Vol. 

the  part  of  conqueror;  and  that  party  which  wins  carries 
away  what  has  been  staked  on  the  game. 

Men,  women,  boys,  and  girls  are  received  into  the 
parties  which  are  formed;  and  they  bet  against  one 
another  for  larger  or  smaller  amounts,  each  according  to 
his  means. 

These  games  usually  begin  after  the  melting  of  the 
winter's  ice,  and  last  until  seed-time.  In  the  afternoon 
all  the  players  may  be  seen,  painted  with  vermilion  and 
decked  with  ornaments.  Each  party  has  its  leader,  who 
makes  an  address,  announcing  to  his  players  the  hour  that 
has  been  appointed  for  beginning  the  games.  All 
assemble  in  a  body,  in  the  middle  of  the  place  [selected], 
and  one  of  the  leaders  of  the  two  parties,  holding  the  ball 
in  his  hand,  tosses  it  into  the  air.  Each  player  under- 
takes to  send  it  in  the  direction  in  which  he  must  drive 
it;  if  it  falls  to  the  ground,  he  endeavors  to  draw  it  to- 
ward him  with  his  crosse ;  and,  if  it  is  sent  outside  the 
crowd  of  players,  the  more  alert  distinguish  themselves 
from  the  others  by  closely  following  it.  You  will  hear 
the  din  that  they  make  by  striking  one  another,  while 
they  strive  to  ward  off  the  blows  in  order  to  send  the  ball 
in  a  favorable  direction.  If  one  of  them  keeps  it  between 
his  feet,  without  allowing  it  to  escape,  it  is  for  him  to 
avoid  the  blows  that  his  adversaries  rain  incessantly  upon 
his  feet;  and,  if  he  happens  to  be  wounded  in  this  en- 
counter, that  is  his  own  affair.  Some  of  them  are  seen 
who  [thus]  have  had  their  legs  or  arms  broken,  and  some 
even  have  been  killed.  It  is  very  common  to  see  among 
them  men  crippled  for  the  rest  of  their  lives,  and  who 
were  hurt  in  games  of  this  sort  only  as  the  result  of  their 
own  obstinacy.62  When  such  accidents  occur,  the  player 

ez  "Wrong ;  neither  arms  nor  legs  were  ever  broken,  still  less  were  men 
killed."  -  ANON. 

"Between  the  anonymous  writer  and  Perrot,  who  spent  forty  years  of  his  life 


one]  GAMES   AND   AMUSEMENTS  95 

who  is  so  unfortunate  as  to  be  hurt  retires  quietly  from 
the  game,  if  he  is  in  a  condition  to  walk;  but,  if  his  in- 
juries will  not  permit  this,  his  relatives  convey  him  to 
the  cabin,  and  the  game  always  goes  on  as  if  nothing 
were  the  matter,  until  it  is  finished. 

As  for  the  runners,  when  the  parties  are  equally  strong 
they  will  sometimes  spend  an  afternoon  without  either 
side  gaining  the  advantage  over  the  other;  but  some- 
times, too,  one  of  them  will  bear  away  the  two  victories 
which  it  must  have  in  order  to  win  the  game.  In  this 
sport  of  racing,  you  would  say  that  they  looked  like  two 
opposing  parties  who  meant  to  fight  together.  This 
exercise  has  much  to  do  with  rendering  the  savages  agile, 
and  ready  to  ward  adroitly  any  blow  from  a  club  in  the 
hands  of  an  enemy,  when  they  find  themselves  entangled 
in  combat;  and  if  one  were  not  told  beforehand  that 
they  were  playing,  one  would  certainly  believe  that  they 
were  fighting  together  in  the  open  field.63  Whatever  mis- 
hap this  sport  may  occasion,  they  attribute  it  to  the  luck 
of  the  game,  and  they  feel  no  hatred  to  one  another. 
The  trouble  falls  on  the  injured  persons,  who  neverthe- 
less put  on  as  contented  an  aspect  as  if  nothing  had  hap- 
pened to  them,  thus  making  it  appear  that  they  have 
great  courage,  and  are  men.  The  party  that  has  won 
carries  away  what  its  members  staked,  and  the  profit  that 
it  has  made,  and  that  without  any  objection  on  either  side 
when  it  is  a  question  of  paying  [the  bets],  no  matter  what 
kind  of  game  it  may  be.  However,  if  any  person  who 
does  not  belong  to  the  party,  or  who  has  not  made  any 
bet,  should  drive  the  ball  to  the  advantage  of  one  of  the 

in  the  midst  of  the  savages,  the  reader  will  pronounce  sentence.  I  only  add  that 
Charlevoix  (Histoire,  vol.  iii,  319)  applies  to  this  game  the  epithet  'dangerous;'  " 
and  that  La  Potherie,  in  describing  its  consequences  (Histoire,  vol.  ii,  126,  127), 
borrows  from  Perrot  the  very  sentences  to  which  the  anonymous  writer  ob- 
jects. —  TAILHAN. 

63  "Not  so;  it  is  easy  to  understand  that  they  are  playing."  —  ANON. 


96  NICOLAS   PERROT  [Vol. 

two  parties,  one  of  the  players  whom  the  blow  does  not 
favor  would  attack  this  man,  demanding  of  him  whether 
this  were  any  of  his  business,  and  why  he  was  meddling 
in  it.  They  have  often  come  to  blows  over  this  point, 
and  if  some  chief  did  not  reconcile  them  there  would  be 
bloodshed,  and  even  some  one  would  be  killed.  The  best 
way  to  prevent  this  disorderly  conduct  is  to  begin  the 
game  over  again,  with  the  consent  of  those  who  are  win- 
ning; for  if  they  refuse  to  do  so,  the  responsibility  rests 
on  them.  But  when  some  one  of  the  influential  men 
interposes,  it  is  not  difficult  to  adjust  their  dispute  and 
induce  them  to  conform  to  his  decision. 

II.     The  game  of  straws 

At  the  game  of  straws  the  savages  lose  not  only  all 
that  they  possess,  but  even  that  which  belongs  to  their 
comrades.  Here  is  an  account  of  this  game.  They  take 
for  this  sport  a  certain  number  of  straws,  or  of  the  stems 
of  a  special  plant,  which  is  not  so  thick  as  the  cord  [used] 
for  a  salmon-net,  and  with  these  they  make  little  sticks, 
all  alike  in  length  and  thickness;  the  length  is  about 
eleven  inches,  and  the  number  is  uneven.  After  turning 
and  mingling  these  in  their  hands,  they  lay  them  on  a 
piece  of  skin  or  of  blanket;  and  he  who  must  begin  the 
game,  holding  in  his  hand  an  awl  (or  more  commonly 
a  small  pointed  bone) ,  makes  contortions  of  his  arms  and 
body,  continually  saying  Chokf  Chok/-a  word  which 
has  no  meaning  in  their  language,  but  which  serves  to 
make  known  his  desire  to  play  well  and  to  be  fortunate 
in  the  game.  Then  with  this  awl  or  small  pointed  bone 
he  thrusts  into  some  part  of  the  [pile  of]  straws,  and 
takes  away  a  number  of  them  as  he  pleases ;  his  opponent 
takes  those  which  remain  on  the  cloth,  and  with  incon- 
ceivable quickness  counts  them,  by  tens,  without  making 


one]  GAMES   AND   AMUSEMENTS  97 

any  mistake;  then  he  who  has  the  uneven  number  has 
made  a  lucky  hit. 

Sometimes  they  play  with  seeds  which  grow  on  the 
trees,  which  closely  resemble  little  beans.64  Each  takes 
a  certain  number  of  these  for  [indicating]  the  value  of 
the  goods  which  he  wishes  to  stake -that  is,  a  gun,  a 
blanket,  or  some  other  article.  The  player  who  at  the 
beginning  of  the  game  finds  that  he  has  nine  straws  in 
his  hand  has  won  all,  and  draws  what  has  been  staked. 
If  he  finds  that  he  has  a  number  not  even,  below  nine,  it 
is  in  his  power  to  double  [the  stakes?],  and  to  honor  the 
game  with  what  suits  him.  For  this  purpose  he  lays 
down  at  any  place  in  the  game,  as  he  chooses,  one  straw, 
and  three,  five,  or  seven  [of  them]  on  other  spots;  for 
the  number  nine,  it  is  always  taken  for  granted,  predomi- 
nates over  all  the  others.  In  short,  he  who  finds  nine 
straws  in  his  hand  usually  draws  all  that  has  been  staked. 
Beside  the  straws  which  lie  on  the  cloth  are  the  seeds 
with  which  the  players  have  honored  the  game ;  and  you 
must  note  that  they  always  place  more  of  these  on  the 
nine  than  on  all  the  others. 

When  the  players  have  made  their  bets,  he  who  has 
been  lucky  often  takes  the  straws  and  turns  them  endwise 
in  his  hands,  and  then  places  them  on  the  table,  saying 
Chank!  which  means  "nine ;"  and  the  other,  who  has  the 
awl  or  the  little  bone  in  his  hand,  draws  off  [part  of] 
the  straws,  in  such  place  as  he  prefers,  and  takes  as  many 
of  them  as  he  pleases,  as  has  been  already  stated,  and  the 
other  takes  the  rest  of  them.  If  the  last  to  take  them 

64  The  seeds  thus  used  as  counters  may  have  been  those  of  the  honey  locust 
(Gleditschia  triacanthos] ,  or  of  the  Kentucky  coffee-tree  (Gymnocladus 
dioica).  —  A.  B.  STOUT,  botanist,  University  of  Wisconsin. 

The  Indians  commonly  use  as  dice,  in  the  bowl-game,  the  flatfish  stones  of 
the  wild  plum  (Prunus  americana) .  The  Virginia  Indians  employed  for  this 
purpose  the  hard,  flat  seeds  of  the  persimmon  (Diospyros  virginiana) . 

-WM.  R.  GERARD. 


98  NICOLAS   PERROT  [Vol. 

prefers  to  leave  them,  his  adversary  is  obliged  to  take 
them ;  and,  each  counting  them  by  tens,  he  who  has  the 
uneven  number  has  won,  and  takes  whatever  has  been 
staked.  But  if  it  happens  that  the  winner  has  only  one 
straw  more  than  the  other  man,  he  takes  only  those  seeds 
which  represent  that  straw.  For  example,  the  number 
three  is  greater  than  two,  by  one;  five  is  superior  to 
three,  and  seven  to  five ;  but  nine  surpasses  all. 

If  several  persons  are  playing  and  one  of  them  finds 
five  in  his  hand,  they  play  four  at  a  time,  two  against  two, 
or  fewer  if  they  cannot  make  up  the  number  of  four 
players ;  one  pair  wins  the  seeds  which  stand  for  the  five 
straws,  and  the  other  [the]  seeds  which  are  at  stake  for 
the  three  straws  and  for  one.  When  any  one  has  not  in 
his  hand  the  uneven  number  of  those  which  remain  on 
the  cloth -that  is,  one  and  three -after  they  have  care- 
fully counted  the  straws  by  tens,  when  he  has  not  the 
nine  he  is  obliged  to  double  what  he  has  staked,  even  if 
he  might  have  in  his  hand  five  or  seven  straws ;  and  his 
play  counts  for  nothing.  He  is  obliged  also  to  form  two 
other  piles  of  straws;  in  one  he  places  five  and  in 
the  other  seven  straws,  with  as  many  seeds  as  he  pleases. 
When  he  has  laid  these  on  the  cloth,  his  opponents  in 
their  turn  prick  off  [straws],  and  then  he  takes  those 
which  are  left;  by  that  time  there  are  some  of  the  players 
who  are  lucky,  nevertheless  each  one  takes  for  himself 
only  the  seeds  which  are  designated  for  the  number  of 
straws  [which  he  has],  and  he  who  has  nine  takes  only 
the  seeds  laid  down  for  the  nine  straws.  When  another 
player  draws  away  seven  straws,  he  takes  the  rest;  for 
three  straws  and  for  one  it  is  all  the  same,  but  not  for 
[numbers]  higher  than  these.65 

5"Lafitau  says  (Mcmrs  des  sauvages,  vol.  ii,  351)  of  this  description  by 
Perrot:  'I  would  gladly  have  inserted  it  here,  but  it  is  so  obscure  that  it  is 
almost  unintelligible.  No  one  of  the  other  Canadian  French  whom  I  have  met 


one]  GAMES   AND   AMUSEMENTS  99 

It  should  be  noted  that,  after  they  have  lost  the  game 
which  lies  before  them,  they  continue  playing  upon  their 
promises  [to  pay],  if  the  players  declare  that  they  [still] 
have  possessions,  even  though  these  are  not  in  their 
hands.  But  when  one  continues  to  be  unlucky,  the  win- 
ner may  refuse  [to  accept]  seeds  from  the  loser  for  the 
value  which  he  requires  from  the  latter,  and  may  oblige 
him  to  go  to  find  the  goods  themselves,  refusing  to  play 
any  longer  until  he  sees  these,  nor  can  any  retort  to  this 
be  made.  The  loser  will  immediately  tell  one  of  his 
comrades  to  bring  the  goods  to  him,  and  if  his  ill-luck 
continues  he  will  lose  everything  that  he  owns.  One  of 
his  comrades  then  relieves  him  and  takes  his  place,  stat- 
ing what  he  intends  to  risk  on  the  game  to  the  winner, 
who  then  accepts  seeds  for  the  value  [of  the  bet]. 

This  game  lasts  sometimes  three  or  four  days.  When 
any  one  of  the  party  who  loses  wins  back  all,  and  he  who 
has  hitherto  been  lucky  in  play  comes  to  lose  not  only 
the  profit  which  he  had  made  but  what  of  his  own  prop- 
erty he  had  staked,  another  of  his  comrades  also  takes 
his  place,  and  everything  goes  on  as  before,  until  one  of 

has  been  able  to  give  me  an  account  of  it;  and  all  that  I  have  been  able  to 
learn  is,  that  after  having  divided  these  straws  they  take  them  into  their  hands 
with  inconceivable  dexterity;  that  the  odd  number  is  always  lucky,  and  the 
number  nine  superior  to  all  the  others;  that  the  division  of  the  straws  causes  the 
game  to  run  high  or  low,  and  doubles  the  stakes,  according  to  the  different  num- 
bers, until  the  game  is  won ;  and  the  contest  is  sometimes  so  spirited,  when  some 
of  the  villages  are  playing  against  the  others,  that  it  lasts  two  or  three  days. 
Although  all  passes  peaceably,  and  with  apparent  good  faith,  there  is  neverthe- 
less much  cheating  and  sleight-of-hand  in  the  game.'  Like  him,  Charlevoix 
admits  (Histoire,  vol.  iii,  318)  that  he  had  understood  nothing  in  all  the  expla- 
nations of  this  game;  and  La  Potherie  acknowledges  (Histoire,  vol.  iii,  23)  that 
its  mechanism  is  not  easy  to  understand.  I  have  not  been  more  fortunate  than 
my  predecessors,  and  the  game  of  straws  remains  for  me  an  undecipherable 
enigma."  _  TAILHAN. 

The  above  citations  will  serve  to  explain  any  obscurity  which  may  appear 
in  Perrot's  text.  It  has  been  translated  as  accurately  as  is  possible;  but  the 
present  editor  can  claim  no  further  illumination  for  its  difficulties  than  the  above- 
cited  authorities  possessed.  —  ED. 


ioo  NICOLAS   PERROT  [Vol. 

the  two  parties  is  entirely  ruined.  Thus  the  contest 
comes  to  an  end  among  those  people,  it  being  a  rule  with 
the  savages  that  they  cannot  quit  the  game  until  one  side 
or  the  other  has  lost  everything.  It  is  for  this  reason  that 
they  cannot  dispense  with  furnishing  revenge  to  all  those 
of  a  party,  decisively,  one  after  another,  as  I  have  just 
stated.  In  the  game  they  have  liberty  to  play  on  their 
own  account,  as  they  please;  and  if  there  happened  to  be 
a  quarrel  over  this- 1  mean  between  the  winners  and  the 
losers,  each  supported  by  those  of  his  own  party -they 
would  come  to  blows,  in  which  there  would  be  blood- 
shed, and  it  would  be  very  difficult  to  reconcile  them. 
If  the  disposition  of  the  winner  is  such  as  to  be  calm 
while  he  loses,  and  he  feigns  to  overlook  the  many  adroit 
tricks  and  the  cheating  which  they  very  often  practice  in 
playing,  he  is  praised  and  esteemed  by  every  one;  while 
he  who  has  tried  to  cheat  is  blamed  by  every  one,  and 
there  is  no  one  who  wishes  to  play  with  him,  unless  he 
ignominiously  restores  what  he  has  unlawfully  won. 

This  game  of  straws  is  usually  held  in  the  cabins  of 
chiefs,  which  are  large  and  are,  so  to  speak,  the  academy 
of  the  savages;  and  there  are  seen  all  the  young  men, 
making  up  opposing  sides,  and  the  older  men  as  specta- 
tors of  their  games.  If  the  player  fancies  that  he  has  had 
luck  in  picking  off  the  straws,  and  that  he  has  on  his  side 
the  uneven  number,  holding  them  in  one  hand  he  strikes 
[the  table]  with  the  other;  and  when  he  has  made  the 
count  of  them  by  tens,  without  saying  a  word  he  makes 
it  known  by  a  sign  that  he  has  won,  by  taking  for  himself 
the  seeds  which  have  been  staked,  when  he  sees  that  he 
against  whom  he  is  playing  has  not  as  many  of  them. 
If  one  of  the  players  tries  to  object  that  the  straws  could 
not  have  been  correctly  counted,  they  hand  them  over  to 
two  of  the  spectators  to  count  them ;  and  the  one  who  has 


one]  GAMES   AND   AMUSEMENTS  101 

really  won  always  sweeps  off  his  straws,  without  saying 
anything,  and  takes  possession  of  the  articles  at  stake. 
All  of  this  passes  without  any  dispute,  and  with  great 
fairness.  You  will  note  that  this  game  is  not  at  all  one 
for  women,  and  that  it  is  only  the  men  who  engage  in  it. 

III.     Game  of  dice 

The  savages  have  also  a  certain  game  of  dice,  in  which 
the  dice-box  is  a  wooden  dish,  quite  round,  empty,  and 
very  smooth  on  both  sides.  The  dice  are  composed  of 
six  small  flat  bones,  in  shape  closely  resembling  a  plum- 
stone;  these  are  quite  smooth,  with  one  of  the  sides  col- 
ored black,  red,  green,  or  blue,  and  the  other  usually 
white,  or  of  some  other  color  than  the  former  side.  They 
place  these  dice  in  the  dish,  and,  holding  it  by  both  sides, 
jerk  it  upward,  causing  the  dice  within  to  leap  and 
bounce  around.  Then,  having  slammed  the  bottom  of 
the  dish  against  the  table,  while  the  dice  are  rolling 
about  they  immediately  strike  their  own  chests  or  shoul- 
ders with  sharp  blows,  saying,  "Dice!  dice!  dice!"  until 
the  dice  stop  moving.  When  five  or  six  of  these  are 
found  with  the  same  color  on  the  [upper]  face,  a  player 
sweeps  off  the  seeds  which  represent  his  agreement  with 
the  other  party;  if  the  loser  and  his  comrades  have  noth- 
ing more  to  wager,  the  winning  side  takes  all  that  is  at 
stake.  Entire  villages  have  been  known  to  wager  each 
its  entire  wealth  against  another  at  this  game,  and  to  lose 
it  all.  They  also  present  challenges;66  and  when  one 
party  happens  to  throw  a  pair-royal  of  six  all  the  men 

66  "Momon,  or  mammon,  a  challenge  given  over  a  cast  of  dice.  On  the  game 
of  dice,  or  bowl,  cf.  Relation  of  1636  (chap,  ix),  and  that  of  1639  (chap,  viii)  ; 
La  Potherie,  Histoire,  vol.  iii,  22 ;  Lafitau,  Mceurs  des  sauvages,  vol.  ii,  339-342; 
Charlevoix,  Histoire,  vol.  iii,  260,  261.  .  .  If  what  Perrot  says  of  the  passion 
for  gaming  among  these  same  savages,  and  the  disorders  which  followed  in  its 
train,  needed  confirmation,  it  would  be  sufficient  to  read  what  is  narrated  of 
them  in  the  Relations  of  1636  (chap,  ii  and  ix)  and  1639  (chap,  x)."  — TAILHAN. 


I02  NICOLAS   PERROT  [Vol. 

and  women  of  the  tribe  that  is  backing  them  rise  to  their 
feet  and  dance,  keeping  time  to  the  sound  of  the  gourd 
rattles.  The  entire  affair  goes  off  without  any  dispute. 

The  girls  and  women  play  at  this  game,  but  they  very 
often  have  eight  dice,  and  do  not  use  the  dish  for  it,  as 
the  men  do ;  they  only  lay  down  a  blanket,  and  throw  the 
dice  on  it  with  their  hands.67 

XI.     The  usual  food  of  the  savages,  and 
their  hunting 

I.     The  usual  food  of  the  savages 

The  kinds  of  food  which  the  savages  like  best,  and 
which  they  make  most  effort  to  obtain,  are  the  Indian 
corn,  the  kidney-bean,  and  the  squash.  If  they  are  with- 
out these,  they  think  that  they  are  fasting,  no  matter  what 
abundance  of  meat  and  fish  they  may  have  in  their  stores, 
the  Indian  corn  being  to  them  what  bread  is  to  French- 
men. The  Algonkins,  however,  and  all  the  northern 
tribes,  who  do  not  cultivate  the  soil,  do  not  lay  up  corn ; 
but  when  it  is  given  to  them  while  they  are  out  hunting 
they  regard  it  as  a  [special]  treat. 

Those  peoples  commonly  live  only  by  hunting  or  fish- 
ing ;  they  have  moose,  caribous,  and  bears,  but  the  beaver 
is  the  most  common  of  all  their  game.  They  consider 
themselves  very  fortunate  in  their  hunting  expeditions 
when  they  encounter  some  rabbits,  martens,  or  par- 
tridges, from  which  to  make  a  soup ;  and  without  what 
we  call  tripe  de  roche*8-  which  you  would  say  is  a  spe- 

67  On  the  game  of  dice  (also  called  "of  dish,"  or  "of  bowl"),  see  Jesuit  Re- 
lations, vol.  x,  185-187,  197,  vol.  xiv,  81,  285,  vol.  xv,  155,  vol.  xvii,  159,  201-205, 
242.  Gambling  was  a  universal  vice  connected  with  all  these  games  described 
by  Perrot.  -  ED. 

88  Tripe  de  roche  is  the  Canadian  term  ("ironically  given"  — CLAPIN)  for  a 
species  of  edible  lichen  (Umbilicaria  dillenii)  growing  on  rocks;  often  men- 
tioned by  early  explorers.  The  Jesuit  Andre  describes  the  method  of  cooking 


one]  FOOD   AND   HUNTING  103 

cies  of  gray  moss,  dry,  and  resembling  oublies'69  and 
which  of  itself  has  only  an  earthy  taste,  and  the  flavor  of 
the  soup  in  which  it  is  cooked -most  of  their  families 
would  perish  of  hunger.  Some  of  these  have  been 
known  who  were  compelled  to  eat  their  own  children, 
and  others  whom  starvation  has  entirely  destroyed.  For 
the  northern  country  is  the  most  sterile  region  in  the 
world,  since  in  many  places  one  will  not  find  a  single 
bird  to  hunt;  however,  they  gather  there  plenty  of  blue- 
berries 70  in  the  months  of  August  and  September,  which 
they  are  careful  to  dry  and  keep  for  a  time  of  need. 

The  Chiripinons  or  Assiniboiialas  sow  in  their  marshes 
some  wild  oats,71  which  they  harvest;  but  they  can  trans- 
it, and  says,  "It  is  necessary  to  close  one's  eyes  when  one  begins  to  eat  it" 
(Jesuit  Relations,  vol.  Iv,  151).  — ED. 

69  Oublie,  one  of  the  wafers  used  to  stick  papers  together ;  it  is  evident  that 
he  compares  tripe  de  roche  to  these  wafers,  as  regards  its  nutritive  value.     It 
also  resembles  them  in  being  gluey  or  gelatinous.     This  lichen   (also  called 
"famine  bread")   is  used  as  food  in  the  northern  wilds  only  when  people  are 
absolutely  starving,  although  it  has  some  nutritive  value.  —  CRAWFORD  LINDSAY. 

70  Bluet:  the  well-known  "blueberry"  (V actinium  canadense),  which  formed 
an  important  and  valued  article  of  food  among  the  northern  Indians.     See  La 
Potherie's  Histoire,  vol.  ii,  57;  and  Jesuit  Relations,  vol.  xvi,  191,  258,  259,  vol. 
xxxviii,  243,  vol.  xlviii,  165,  vol.  lix,  69,  71,  306,  vol.  Ixxi,  373.  —  ED. 

71  "In  this  passage  of  our  manuscript  the  words  Chiripinons  ou  have  been 
crossed  out,  and  for  them  have  been  substituted,  Cristinaux,  nation  differente 
des  Assiniboils.     Moreover,  one  reads  on  the  margin  the  following  annotation, 
'The  wild  oats  grows  without  sowing.'  "     The  manner  of  gathering  this  grain 
is  described  by  Father  Marquette,   in  the   relation  of  his  voyages   and   dis- 
coveries. -  TAILHAN. 

This  "wild  oats"  refers  to  the  grain  known  as  wild  rice  (Zizania  aguatica), 
which  grows  in  marshes  and  shallow  streams  and  lakes  from  the  Rocky  Moun- 
tains to  the  Atlantic,  and  from  latitude  52°  to  the  Gulf  states;  it  is  especially 
abundant  in  Wisconsin  and  eastern  Minnesota.  Its  Algonquian  name  is 
mono  mtn,  meaning  "good  berry;"  and  there  are  many  other  names  —  Indian, 
English,  and  French  —  extant  for  this  well-known  grain.  The  Menomini  tribe, 
found  on  the  shore  of  Green  Bay  by  Nicollet  in  1634,  nave  always  been  known 
as  the  "Wild-rice  Indians,"  which  is  simply  the  translation  of  their  own  name, 
Omanomine<wak  —  called  by  the  French  writers  Malhominis,  Maloumines,  etc. 
The  wild  rice  is  claimed  to  be  even  more  nutritious  than  any  of  our  cereal 
grains,  including  even  maize.  The  only  full  and  thorough  account  of  it  yet 
published  is  A.  E.  Jenks's  "Wild  Rice  Gatherers  of  the  Upper  Lakes,"  in  i9th 
Report  of  the  Bureau  of  Amer.  Ethnology,  1011-1160:  therein  are  given  the 


104  NICOLAS    PERROT  [Vol. 

port  this  grain  to  their  homes  only  in  the  season  of  navi- 
gation. As  their  canoes  are  very  small,  and  heavily 
loaded  with  their  children  and  the  produce  of  their  hunt- 
ing, they  have  very  often  been  reduced  almost  to  starva- 
tion on  account  of  being  too  far  distant  from  their 
caches*  and  their  own  country. 

II.     The  manner  in  which  the  northern  tribes  hunt  the 

beaver 

The  peoples  of  the  north  hunt  for  beaver  in  the  winter, 
with  an  ice-chisel  [tranche]  and  a  snare  made  of  cords  of 
hide.  They  begin  by  breaking  a  hole  in  the  lodge  into 

history,  description,  habitat,  and  uses  of  this  grain;  the  Indian  tribes  using  it; 
methods  of  cultivating,  harvesting,  and  cooking  it;  etc.  The  author  says 
(p.  1019)  of  this  study:  "It  has  thrown  light  upon  the  almost  constant  warfare 
between  the  Dakota  and  Ojibwa  Indians  for  two  hundred  and  fifty  years.  It 
has  shed  light  also  upon  the  fur  trade  in  a  territory  unexcelled  in  the  richness 
of  its  furs,  yet  almost  inaccessible  had  it  not  been  for  the  wild  rice  which 
furnished  such  nourishing  and  wholesome  support  to  the  traders  and  hunters." 
See  also  the  excellent  paper  of  Gardner  P.  Stickney,  "Indian  Use  of  Wild  Rice," 
in  Amer.  Anthropologist,  vol.  ix,  115-121.  It  appears  that  some  efforts  have 
been  made  to  introduce  wild  rice  into  the  market,  as  a  cereal  for  American 
consumption;  but  these  were  unsuccessful,  on  account  of  the  general  (and 
somewhat  foolish)  prejudice  against  grains  lacking  in  whiteness  —  the  wild  rice 
being  green  or  almost  black  in  color.  —  ED. 

*  "The  storage  of  articles  and  supplies  appears  to  have  been  quite  general 
throughout  America,  and  the  practice  of  caching,  or  hiding,  things  not  less  so. 
The  extent  of  this  custom  indicates  its  ancient  origin,  a  belief  strengthened  by 
the  discovery  of  large  deposits  of  articles  of  stone  which  in  many  cases  show 
partial  disintegration  and  other  indications  of  great  age.  .  .  The  season, 
the  temperature,  the  locality,  and  the  time  required  to  make  a  cache  were  im- 
portant considerations.  Some  things,  when  time  allowed,  were  sewed  in  skins 
and  suspended  on  trees  or  hidden  in  hollow  tree  trunks;  others  were  buried 
under  shelving  rocks  or  in  carefull}'  prepared  holes  in  the  ground.  Owing  to 
seasonal  journeys  of  large  numbers  of  persons  in  search  of  food  or  other  sup- 
plies, many  things  had  to  be  left  behind  which,  because  of  their  weight  or  bulk, 
would  add  to  the  difficulty  of  movement.  Caching  was  resorted  to  in  order  to 
prevent  the  hidden  things  from  being  disturbed  by  wild  beasts,  stones  often 
being  piled  over  the  cache ;  or,  when  the  deposit  was  of  food  or  clothing,  fires 
were  built  in  order  that  the  ashes  should  hide  surface  indications  and  thus  keep 
enemies  from  disturbing  the  deposit;  or,  in  other  cases,  the  sod  was  carefully 
removed  and  replaced  after  the  cache  was  completed ;  or,  if  the  land  was  sandy, 


one]  FOOD   AND   HUNTING  105 

which  this  animal  goes  for  refuge;  and  they  break  down 
the  dams 72  which  it  has  been  careful  to  build  in  order  to 
retain  the  water  in  the  marsh.  After  they  have  thus 
drained  away  the  water  during  the  night,  the  savages  lay 
their  snare,  which  is  made  like  a  pouch,  as  large  as  the 
place  through  which  the  beaver  must  necessarily  pass, 
for  there  is  no  other -the  ice,  and  the  dams  which  the 
animal  made  in  the  autumn,  no  longer  permitting  it  to 
ascend  or  descend  the  stream.  The  animal  is  therefore 
constrained  to  abandon  its  dwelling,  or  to  repair  the 
breach  which  has  already  been  made  in  its  wall ;  for  this 
snare,  as  has  been  stated,  occupies  the  passageway,73  and 
its  shape  is  like  that  of  a  purse,  with  a  cord  in  its  end 
which  is  drawn  together  to  close  the  snare.  The  beaver, 
then  attempting  to  descend  to  the  bottom  of  the  water, 
enters  this  snare  that  is  stretched  for  it;  and  the  man  who 
is  stationed  upon  the  ice,  perceiving  [by  the  motion  of 
the  net]  that  it  is  captured,  draws  in  the  net,  and  breaks 
the  animal's  head.  They  always  secure  it  in  the  same 
way;  and  such  is  the  manner  in  which  the  beavers  are 
killed.  If  the  bank  of  the  swamp  were  not  steep  and 
were  on  a  level  with  the  water,  it  would  be  much  easier 
to  destroy  them ;  for  then  it  would  only  be  necessary  to 

water  was  poured  over  the  surface  to  conceal  indications  of  the  ground  having 
been  disturbed.  The  term  cache  has  been  adopted  from  the  French  cacher,  'to 
hide,'  and  has  been  very  generally  adopted  by  the  whites,  who  have  not  been 
slow  to  accept  and  practice  this  primitive  method  of  hiding  things  intended  to  be 
reclaimed."  — J.  D.  McGuiRE,  in  Handbook  Amer.  Indians,  art  "Storage  and 
caching." 

72  "They  break  open  the  lodge,  and  not  the  dam,  for  the  net,  but  especially 
when  they  wish  to  trap  the  animal  in  the  places  where  he  is  accustomed  to 
go."  —  ANON. 

73  "Wrong;  this  net  is  not  stretched  in  the  passage  to  the  water,  but  in  the 
place  through  which  the  beaver  must  pass  to  come  to  his  lodge  when  he  is 
hunted  in  other  places.     It  is  also  stretched  at  the  entrance  to  a  place  to  which 
they  know  the  animal  has  gone  to  hide  itself,  and  where  a  barrier  has  been  made 
with  stakes  driven  into  the  ice;  in  this  barrier  is  left  an  opening,  in  which  the 
net  is  stretched."  —  ANON. 


106  NICOLAS   PERROT  [Vol. 

break  into  their  lodges  to  compel  the  animals  to  come 
out  from  them. 

The  noise  which  the  hunters  make  by  sharply  striking 
the  handles  of  their  tools  [upon  the  ice]  enables  the 
beavers7*  [sc.  hunters?]  to  recognize  by  the  variations  in 
the  sound  that  there  are  cavities  under  the  ice;  and  the 
animals  try  to  take  refuge  in  these  in  order  to  regain  their 
breath,  for  the  fright  which  has  been  given  them  has 
greatly  harassed  them.  After  they  have  rested  there  for 
some  time,  they  try  to  return  to  their  dwellings  or  to 
reach  some  other  place  of  safety;  then  all  the  hunters 
observe  entire  silence,  and  quit  making  a  noise,  but  they 
continue  to  walk  about  very  cautiously,  with  sharp  sticks 
in  their  hands,  looking  for  the  places  where  they  see  the 
water  in  motion,  because  they  think  that  the  beaver  may 
be  there.  They  immediately  close  the  entrance  to  its 
hole,  and  knowing,  by  the  sticks  which  it  tries  to  force 
aside,  the  moment  when  it  tries  to  leave  the  hole,  they 
immediately  spear  it  with  a  sharp  blade  fastened  to  the 
end  of  a  stake.75 

III.     Chase  of  the  caribou,  moose,  and  other  animals 

Hunting  the  caribous  is  usually  practiced  on  the  great 
flat  plains  \savanes]  ; 76  and  at  the  outset  they  surround 

74  "Wrong."  _  ANON. 

"It  is  really  to  the  hunters,  not  to  the  beavers,  that  the  resonance  of  the 
tool-handle  [struck]  against  the  ice  indicates  the  cavities  in  which  the  animals 
have  gone  to  seek  refuge;  moreover,  I  am  much  inclined  to  believe  that  the 
copyist  has  by  mistake  substituted  here  the  word  castors  for  chasseurs  which  was 
found  in  the  original."  —  TAILHAN. 

75  "The  beaver  is  never  speared  in  the  winter ;  it  is  seized  by  the  hand 
through  a  hole  that  has  been  made  in  the  ice  —  through  which  the  hunter  knows 
that  the  beaver  is  near,  by  the  motion  which  it  causes  in  the  water."  —  ANON. 

In  the  Relation  of  1634  (chap,  ix)  is  "a  more  complete  and  especially  a  more 
intelligible  description  of  the  beaver-hunt;"  cf.  La  Potherie,  Histoire,  vol.  i, 
134.  — TAILHAN. 

76  "All  these  savages     .     .     .     are  known   in  the  French  relations  by  the 


one]  FOOD  AND   HUNTING  107 

the  game  with  trees  and  poles  planted  at  intervals,  in 
which  they  stretch  snares  of  rawhide,  which  enclose  a 
narrow  passage  purposely  left.  When  all  these  snares 
have  been  prepared,  they  go  far  away,  marching  abreast 
and  uttering  loud  yells ;  this  unusual  noise  frightens  the 
animals  and  drives  them  to  flight  on  every  side;  no 
longer  knowing  which  way  to  go,  they  encounter  this 
obstruction  which  has  been  made  ready  in  their  course. 
Not  being  able  to  clear  it,  they  are  compelled  to  follow 
it  until  they  reach  the  passage  in  which  the  snares  are 
laid  with  running  knots,  which  seize  them  by  the  neck. 
It  is  in  vain  that  they  strive  to  escape;  rather,  they  tear 
up  the  stakes  [of  the  snare]  and  drag  these  with  them 
as  far  as  the  larger  trees;  in  short,  their  utmost  efforts 
to  extricate  themselves  only  serve  to  strangle  them  more 
quickly." 

The  moose  are  hunted  in  about  the  same  manner,  es- 
pecially when  the  savages  are  in  a  region  where  these 
animals  are  numerous ;  or  else  they  endeavor  to  take  them 
by  surprise  and  kill  them  with  guns  or  arrows.  But  in 
the  winter,  when  the  snows  are  deep,  they  have  sharp 
blades  on  long  handles  for  killing  the  moose  by  coursing 
them.  On  the  other  hand,  the  elk  can  be  captured  only 
with  a  snare.78 

The  Kiristinons,79  who  often  frequent  the  region  along 

generic  name  of  Savanois  [i.e.,  Meadow  people],  because  the  country  that  they 
inhabit  is  low,  swampy,  thinly  wooded ;  and  because  in  Canada  those  wet  lands 
that  are  good  for  nothing  are  called  Savanes"  (Charlevoix,  Histoire,  vol.  iii, 
l8l).- TAILHAN. 

77  See  Champlain's  description  of  this  sort  of  hunting,  in  Voyages,  page  266; 
it  is  more  clear  and   easily  understood  than  Perrot's.     See   also  Charlevoix's 
Histoire,  vol.  iii,  128,  129.  —  TAILHAN. 

78  For  description  of  elk-hunting  by  the  savages,  see  Relation  of  1634,  chap, 
ix.  -  TAILHAN. 

79  The  Cree,  a  name  "contracted  from  Kristinaux,  French  form  of  Keniste- 
noag,  given  as  one  of  their  own  names:  an  important  Algonquian  tribe  of  British 
America  whose  former  habitat  was  in  Manitoba  and  Assiniboia,  between  Red 


I08  NICOLAS    PERROT [Vol. 

the  shores  of  Lake  Superior  and  the  great  rivers,  where 
moose  are  more  commonly  found,  have  another  method 
of  hunting  them.  First,  they  embark  on  the  water,  two 
men  in  each  canoe,  and  keep  at  a  certain  distance  from 
one  another;  their  dogs  are  on  the  land,  and  enter  a  little 
distance  into  the  depths  of  the  forest  to  seek  their  game. 
As  soon  as  the  dogs  have  found  the  trail,  they  never  quit 
it  until  they  have  found  the  moose ;  and  the  wonderful 
instinct  which  they  possess  of  remembering  in  what 
place  their  masters  are  leads  them  to  drive  on  the  game 
directly  to  that  quarter,  continually  pursuing  them  un- 
til the  moose  are  constrained  to  dash  into  the  water. 
The  savages,  who  are  [now]  on  the  shore  listening  in- 
tently for  the  barking  of  their  dogs,  at  once  enter  their 
canoes  [again],  and  attack  and  slay  the  moose. 

The  marten  [skins]  that  are  most  valued  and  hand- 
some are  those  from  the  north ;  the  fur  on  them  is  more 

and  Saskatchewan  Rivers.  .  .  A  portion  of  the  Cree,  as  appears  from  the 
tradition  given  by  Lacombe  (Diet.  Lang.  Cris),  inhabited  for  a  time  the  region 
about  Red  River,  intermingled  with  the  Chippewa  and  Maskegon,  but  were 
attracted  to  the  plains  by  the  buffalo,  the  Cree  like  the  Chippewa  being  essen- 
tially a  forest  people.  Many  bands  of  Cree  were  virtually  nomads,  their  move- 
ments being  governed  largely  by  the  food  supply.  The  Cree  are  closely  related, 
linguistically  and  otherwise,  to  the  Chippewa.  .  .  At  some  comparatively 
recent  time  the  Assiniboin,  a  branch  of  the  Sioux,  in  consequence  of  a  quarrel 
broke  away  from  their  brethren  and  sought  alliance  with  the  Cree.  The  latter 
received  them  cordially  and  granted  them  a  home  in  their  territory,  thereby 
forming  friendly  relations  that  have  continued  to  the  present  day.  The  united 
tribes  attacked  and  drove  southwestward  the  Siksika  and  allied  tribes  who 
formerly  dwelt  along  the  Saskatchewan.  The  enmity  between  these  tribes  and 
both  the  Siksika  and  the  Sioux  has  ever  since  continued."  The  history  of  the 
Cree,  who  have  always  been  friendly  to  both  the  French  and  the  English,  "con- 
sists almost  wholly  of  their  contests  with  neighboring  tribes  and  their  relations 
with  the  Hudson  Bay  Company.  .  .  In  more  recent  years,  since  game  has 
become  scarce,  they  have  lived  chiefly  in  scattered  bands,  depending  largely  on 
trade  with  the  agents  of  the  Hudson  Bay  Co.  At  present  they  are  gathered 
chiefly  in  bands  on  various  reserves  in  Manitoba,  mostly  with  the  Chippewa." 
Their  numbers  were  greatly  reduced  by  smallpox  in  1786  and  1838 ;  in  1776 
the  Cree  proper  were  estimated  at  about  15,000.  "There  are  now  about  10,000 
in  Manitoba  (7,000  under  agencies),  and  about  5,000  roving  in  Northwest 
Territory;  total,  15,000."  — JAMES  MOONEY  and  CYRUS  THOMAS,  in  Handbook 
Amer.  Indians. 


one]  FOOD  AND   HUNTING  109 

black  than  brown ;  and  the  trade  in  these  is  one  of  the  best 
carried  on  in  that  country. 

The  savages  called  Saulteurs80  are  at  the  south  of 
Lake  Superior,  and  hunt  the  beaver  and  the  moose. 
They  also  go  fishing,  and  catch  excellent  fish ;  and  they 
harvest  some  Indian  corn,  although  not  in  so  great  quan- 
tity as  do  the  tribes  on  the  shores  of  Lake  Huron,  who 
live  in  open  or  prairie  country.  Martens  are  found 
there,  and  even  if  the  caribou  is  not  seen  there  they  have 
by  way  of  compensation  many  other  animals  in  abun- 
dance, which  they  kill  with  great  ease.  Moreover, 
have  for  neighbors  and  friends  the  Sioux,  on  whose  lands 
they  hunt,  when  they  wish,  buffaloes,  elk,  and  deer,81  and 

80  The  Relation  of  1670  thus  describes  (chap,  x)  the  Sault  de  Sainte-Marie 
[i.e.,  the  rapids  of  St.  Mary's  River;  popularly  known  as  "the  Soo"] :     "What 
is  commonly  known  as  the  Sault  is  not,  properly  speaking,  a  descent  or  fall  of 
water  from  a  considerable  height ;  but  it  is  an  exceedingly  violent  current  of  the 
waters  from  Lake  Superior,  which  being  checked  by  a  great  number  of  rocks 
that  dispute  their  passage,  form  a  dangerous  cascade,  half  a  league  broad  —  all 
those  waters  descending,  and  precipitating  themselves  one  upon  another,  as  if 
on  a  staircase,  over  the  great  rocks  that  obstruct  the  river.     This  place  is  three 
leagues  below  Lake  Superior,  and  twelve  leagues  above  the  lake  of  the  Hurons  — 
all  this  distance  forming  a  beautiful  river,  divided  by  many  islands.     .     .     The 
earliest   and   native   inhabitants  of  this  place   are   those  who  call  themselves 
Pahouitingonach     .     .     .     whom  the  French  call  Saulteurs,  because  it  is  these 
people  who  live  at  the  Sault  as  in  their  own  country,  the  other  tribes  being 
there  only  by  loan,  as  it  were." 

"The  Sauteurs  of  to-day  apply  to  themselves  no  other  name  than  that  of 
Odgiboweke  (Otjibwek,  Odjibewais),  from  which  the  English  have  called 
them  Chippewais.  These  peoples  of  Algonquin  stock  have  almost  entirely 
abandoned  their  ancient  dwelling  at  Saut-Sainte  Marie.  They  form  the  most 
numerous  part  of  the  savage  population  dispersed  through  the  vast  British 
possessions  of  the  Northwest,  and  dwell  not  far  from  the  line  that  separates  those 
possessions  from  the  American  territory.  Their  lives  are  spent  in  waging  war 
against  the  Sioux,  their  neighbors  on  the  south,  in  hunting  the  bison,  and  most  of 
all  in  exploiting  the  liberality  of  the  Bois-Brules  of  the  Red  River  (who  are 
Canadian-Sauteur  mixed-bloods).  The  tribe  of  Sauteurs,  wrote  in  1851  a  mis- 
sionary to  those  regions  (Rapport  sur  les  missions  du  diocese  de  Quebec,  no.  9, 
in;  Quebec),  'is  in  general  the  most  slothful  and  mendicant  people  whom  I 
know.  They  are  the  scourge  of  the  mixed-bloods,  who  are  industrious  in  hunt- 
ing, and  courageous  in  enduring  its  fatigues;  so  the  Sauteurs  beset  them,  in 
order  to  live  almost  exclusively  at  their  expense.'"  —  TAILHAN. 

81  French,  cerfs,  biches,  chevreiiils ;  and  in  the  sentence  at  the  beginning  of 


IIO  NICOLAS   PERROT 

other  game,  which  they  take  by  surprise  with  the  dis- 
charge of  guns  and  arrows. 

There  are  yet  other  tribes  along  Lakes  Huron  and 
Illinois  who  possess  lands  sufficiently  cleared  to  obtain 
from  them  all  the  grain  that  they  can  need,  and  who  live 
in  great  comfort  with  [this  and]  the  produce  of  their 
fishing;  but  when  they  wish  to  go  to  hunt  beaver  or  any 
other  animal  they  are  compelled  to  go  to  a  great  distance. 
The  seasons  which  they  usually  take  for  hunting  are  the 
autumn  and  winter,  because  at  that  time  the  pelts  of  the 
animals  are  better  than  at  others.  For  capturing  these 
they  use  snares,  in  which  for  bait  there  is  a  branch  of  a 
tree  which  they  call  "the  trembling  tree;" 82  the  animals 
are  very  fond  of  this,  and  in  trying  to  reach  the  inner  end 
of  the  snare,  where  the  bait  is  placed,  they  step  upon  a 
trigger,  which  lets  fall  a  heavy  weight  on  the  animal's 
back  and  kills  it. 

They  hunt  all  the  other  beasts  with  guns,  although 
they  have  also  arrows,  but  they  are  not  so  skilful  in 
using  these  weapons  as  are  the  people  of  the  north  and 
of  the  prairies,  because  the  use  of  firearms  is  not  so  gen- 
eral among  them  as  in  those  tribes ;  and  because  in  the 
distant  regions  to  which  they  are  accustomed  to  go  for 

this  paragraph  is  mentioned  (as  in  many  other  places)  the  elan.  There  is  some 
confusion  in  various  writers  in  the  use  of  these  words  and  of  their  English 
equivalents,  and  sometimes  it  is  difficult  to  identify  them  precisely.  On  the 
authority  of  Crawford  Lindsay  and  C.  Hart  Merriam  (late  chief  of  U.S.  Bio- 
logical Survey),  I  have  regularly  translated  cerf  as  "elk"  (Cervus  canadensis, 
or  C.  wapiti;  also  called  "wapiti")  ;  elan  as  "moose"  (C.  alces,  or  A  Ices  ameri- 
canus;  also  called  "moose  deer")  ;  chevreiiil  as  "deer"  (Odocoileus  virginianus, 
or  Cervus  virginianus;  the  red  or  Virginia  deer).  The  caribou  (C.  tarandus,  or 
Tarandus  hastalis)  is  allied  to  the  reindeer.  These  four  apparently  include  all 
the  species  of  Cervus  in  Canada  and  the  northern  United  States  east  of  the 
Rocky  Mts.  The  name  biche,  as  found  in  dictionaries,  seems  to  mean  the  doe  of 
the  red  deer;  but  J.  D.  Caton  says,  in  Antelope  and  Deer  of  America  (N.Y., 
1881,  second  edition)  that  the  elk  or  wapiti  (presumably  the  female)  is  called 
la  biche  by  the  Canadian  French.  -  ED. 

82  The  American  (or  "quaking")  aspen  or  poplar  (Aspen  — or  Populus — 
tremuloides) ,  called  bois  blanc  ( "whitewood" )  by  the  French  Canadians.  _  ED. 


GO 

H 


FOOD  AND  HUNTING  113 

hunting  there  are  bears,  elk,  deer,  wild-cats,  beaver, 
some  pekans™  and  otters.  If  they  go  to  the  west  or  to- 
ward the  south  they  find  there  buffalo  but  few  moose,84 
for  of  all  the  animals  which  I  have  just  enumerated  few 
live  where  there  are  moose;  and  for  this  reason  the  sav- 
ages run  great  risk  of  fasting  at  times.  Martens  are  also 
very  common  there ;  and  when  the  beaver  cannot  supply 
the  deficiency  of  moose,  they  are  exposed,  when  there  is 
so  little  snow  that  they  are  prevented  from  running  down 
the  moose,  to  famine -all  the  more  certain  because  it  is 
very  difficult  to  overcome  those  animals  by  surprise. 

IV.  Natural  productions  of  the  prairies;  game  and 
'wild  beasts  that  are  encountered  there 

The  savage  peoples  who  inhabit  the  prairies  have  life- 
long good-fortune;  animals  and  birds  are  found  there 
in  great  numbers,  with  numberless  rivers  abounding  in 
fish.  Those  people  are  naturally  very  industrious,  and 
devote  themselves  to  the  cultivation  of  the  soil,  which  is 
very  fertile  for  Indian  corn.  It  produces  also  beans, 
squashes  (both  small  and  large)  of  excellent  flavor, 
fruits,  and  many  kinds  of  roots.  They  have  in  especial 
a  certain  method  of  preparing  squashes  with  the  Indian 
corn  cooked  while  in  its  milk,  which  they  mix  and  cook 
together  and  then  dry,  [a  food]  which  has  a  very  sweet 
taste.  Finally,  melons  grow  there  which  have  a  juice  no 
less  agreeable  than  refreshing. 

The  various  kinds  of  animals  that  the  country  fur- 

83  Pekan:  a  French-Canadian  name  for  the  animal  called  "fisher,"  "black 
fox,"  and  "black  (or  wild)  cat"  (Mustela  pennanti)  ;  its  fur  was  esteemed  by 
Europeans.  —  ED. 

84  "This  entire  passage  is  not  very  clear.     I  think  that  Perrot  meant  to  say 
that  the  savages  of  Lake  Huron  and  the  Lake  of  the  Illinois  (Lake  Michigan) 
hunt  not  only  the  beaver,  but  also  'all  the  other  beasts,'  because  'in  the  distant 
hunting  expeditions  on  which  they  are  accustomed  to  go,  there  are  bears,  moose,' 
etc."  -  TAILHAN. 


ii4  NICOLAS    PERROT  [Vol. 

nishes  are:  buffaloes,  elk,  bears,  lynxes,  raccoons,  and 
panthers,85  whose  flesh  is  very  good  for  food.  There  are 
also  beavers,  and  black  and  gray  wolves,  whose  skins 
serve  as  their  garments;  and  still  other  animals  which 
also  they  use  for  food.  The  birds  or  fowls  of  the  rivers 
and  swamps  are:  swans,86  bustards,  wild  geese,  and  ducks 
of  all  kinds.  Pelicans  are  very  common,  but  they  have  an 
oily  flavor,  whether  alive  or  dead,  which  is  so  disagree- 
able that  it  is  impossible  to  eat  them. 

The  land  birds  are :  turkeys,  pheasants,  quails,  pigeons, 
and  curlew87  like  large  hens,  of  excellent  flavor.  In 
that  region  are  found  still  other  birds,  especially  innu- 
merable cranes.  The  people  of  that  country  generally 
use  guns  and  bows  in  hunting;  and  in  the  marshes  they 
drain  them,  and  use  the  ice-chisel. 

Toward  the  north,  the  animals  all  have  very  rich  fur; 
but  as  one  goes  southward,  where  the  winter  does  not  last 
long,  as  soon  as  it  is  over  the  furs  cease  to  be  as  valuable. 

85  Tygres:  referring  to  the  panther  or  cougar   (Felis  cougar).     The  name 
"catamount"  is  a  nuisance,  being  used  differently  by  various  authors,  sometimes 
being  applied  to  the  panther  or  cougar,  sometimes  to  the  Canada  lynx   (Lynx 
canadensis;  French,  chat  cervier).     It  should  be  restricted  to  the  panther. 

-  C.  HART  MERRIAM,  late  chief  of  U.S.  Biological  Survey. 

86  Of  the  swan  (Cygnus,  or  Olor),  two  species  were  commonly  found  in  the 
northern  and  central  states:  C.  americanus  (or  ferus),  the  American  or  whistling 
swan;  and  C.  buccinator,  the  trumpeter  swan.     The  American  white  pelican 
(Pelecanus  erythrorhyncus)  is  described  in  Jesuit  Relations,  vol.  Iv,  197,  199,  321. 
The  wild  goose  (Anser  anser)  is  said  to  be  the  wild  stock  of  the  domesticated 
goose  —  Leonhard  Stejneger,  in  Riverside  Natural  History  (Boston,  1884).    The 
name  outarde  (English,  "bustard")  was  given  by  the  French  Canadians  to  the 
Canada  goose  (Anser,  or  Branta,  canadensis).     All  of  these  wild  water-birds, 
which  formerly  abounded  in  the  United  States  and  Canada,  are  now  rare  or 
unknown  in  the  long-settled  eastern  regions,  and  are  found  in  abundance  only  in 
remote  parts  of  the  west  and  north  where  settlements  are  yet  few  and  scat- 
tered. -  ED. 

87  "There  exist  in  Canada   and  the   United   States   two  species  of  curlew 
\_corbigeaux  ou  courlis~\:  the  long-beaked  curlew  (Numenius  longirostris,  Aud.) 
and  the  northern  curlew  (Numenius  hudsonicus,  Aud.).     What  Perrot  says  of 
the  prairie  curlew  may  be  understood  of  one  as  well  as  of  the  other.     Cf.  J.  M. 
Lemoine's  Ornithologie  du  Canada,  356,  357  (Quebec,  1861,  second  edition)." 

-  TAILHAN. 


one]  FOOD  AND   HUNTING  115 

In  that  region  the  heat  is  as  great  as  in  the  islands  of  the 
south  or  in  Provence;  and  it  is  a  country  abounding  in 
parroquets.  But  if  we  push  into  the  north,  as  far  as  the 
entrance  to  Ouisconching  [i.e.,  Wisconsin  River],  the 
winter  there  is  extremely  cold  and  long.  That  is  where 
the  beaver-skins  are  the  best,  and  where  hunting  lasts  for 
a  longer  time  in  the  year. 

The  savages  have  in  their  country  various  kinds  of 
roots.  That  which  they  call  [blank  in  text],  meaning 
"bear's  root,"  88  is  an  actual  poison  if  it  is  eaten  raw;  but 
they  cut  it  in  very  thin  slices,  and  cook  it  in  an  oven* 
during  three  days  and  nights ;  thus  by  heat  they  cause  the 
acrid  substance  which  renders  it  poisonous  to  evaporate 
in  steam,  and  it  then  becomes  what  is  commonly  called 
cassava  root. 

Also  in  winter  they  dig  from  under  the  ice,  or  where 
there  is  much  mud  and  little  water,  a  certain  root,  of 
better  quality  than  that  which  I  have  just  mentioned; 
but  it  is  only  found  in  the  Louisiana  country,  some  fif- 
teen leagues  above  the  entrance  to  the  Ouisconching. 
The  savages  call  this  root,  in  their  own  language,  poke- 

88 Racine  de  fours:  This,  from  Perrot's  description,  was  the  "Indian  turnip" 
(Ariseema  triphyllum),  the  crown  of  which  is  very  acrid  when  fresh,  but  loses 
this  quality  when  boiled  or  roasted,  in  which  state  it  was  sometimes  eaten  by  the 
Indians.  It  yields  one-fourth  of  its  weight  of  a  pure  amylaceous  matter,  like 
starch,  arrowroot,  or  cassava.  If  the  French  name  is  a  translation  of  the 
Indian,  the  corm  may  be  the  makopin,  or  "bear- root,"  of  the  Ojibwa. 

—  WILLIAM  R.  GERARD,  New  York  City. 

*  "The  pit  oven,  consisting  of  a  hole  excavated  in  the  ground,  heated  with 
fire,  and  then  filled  with  food  which  was  covered  over  and  allowed  to  cook, 
was  general  in  America,  though  as  a  rule  it  was  employed  only  occasionally, 
and  principally  for  cooking  vegetal  substances.  This  method  was  found  neces- 
sary to  render  acrid  or  poisonous  foods  harmless  and  starchy  foods  saccharine, 
and  as  a  preliminary  in  drying  and  preserving  food  for  winter  use.  Rude 
camp  devices,  such  as  baking  in  a  cavity  in  the  ashes,  sometimes  incasing  in 
clay  the  substance  to  be  cooked,  were  in  common  use;  simple  pit  ovens,  charged 
according  to  a  definite  plan,  and  ovens  with  a  draft  hole,  the  latter  occurring 
among  the  Pueblos,  comprise  the  varieties  of  this  invention  in  northern  Amer- 
ica."—WALTER  HOUGH,  in  Handbook  Amer.  Indians. 


ii6  NICOLAS   PERROT  [Vol. 

koretch ; 89  and  the  French  give  it  no  other  name,  because 
nothing  at  all  resembling  it  is  seen  in  Europe.  It  has 
the  appearance  of  a  root,  about  half  as  thick  as  one's  arm, 
or  a  little  more;  it  also  has  firm  flesh,  and  externally  re- 
sembles an  arm;  in  one  word,  you  would  say  at  sight  of 
these  roots,  that  they  are  certainly  great  radishes.  But 
cut  it  across  the  two  ends,  and  it  is  no  longer  the  same 
thing;  for  you  find  inside  it  a  cavity  in  the  middle,  ex- 
tending throughout  its  length,  around  which  are  five  or 
six  other  and  smaller  cavities,  which  also  run  from  end 
to  end.  To  eat  it,  you  must  cook  it  over  a  brazier,  and 
you  will  find  that  it  tastes  like  chestnuts.  The  savages 
are  accustomed  to  make  provision  of  this  root;  they  cut 
it  into  pieces  and  string  them  on  a  cord,  in  order  to  dry 
them  in  the  smoke.  When  these  pieces  are  thoroughly 
dry,  and  hard  as  wood,  they  put  them  into  bags,  and  keep 
them  as  long  as  they  wish.  If  they  boil  their  meat  in  a 
kettle,  they  also  cook  therein  this  root,  which  thus  be- 
comes soft;  and,  when  they  wish  to  eat,  it  answers  for 
bread  with  their  meat.  It  is  always  better  with  consid- 

89  This  was  the  rhizome  of  Nelumbo  lutea,  called  by  the  Oto  and  Quapaw 
tarocwa  and  taluiua  ("hollow  root"),  and  by  the  Ojibwa  tribes  ivdgipin  or  ivar- 
gipin  ("crooked  root").  Both  the  rhizome  and  the  seeds  ("water  chinkapins") 
are  used  as  food  by  the  Indians  wherever  the  plant  grows.  —  WM.  R.  GERARD. 

Several  clumps  of  Nelumbo  lately  grew  (and  may  be  still  present)  in  Rice 
Lake  and  Mud  Lake,  two  small  isolated  lakes  west  of  Lake  Koshkonong,  Wis. 
They  were  there  when  the  earliest  settlers  of  that  locality  arrived,  and  are 
supposed  to  have  been  introduced  by  Indians,  although  no  one  knows  when 
or  by  what  tribe;  and  botanical  works  state  that  the  plant  was  introduced  in 
that  region  by  Indians,  although  no  actual  proof  of  this  is  adduced. 

—  ARLOW  B.  STOUT,  Univ.  of  Wisconsin. 

"  'The  Pokekoretch  of  Perrot  is  without  any  doubt  the  Nelumbium  luteum, 
an  aquatic  plant  with  a  cylindrical  and  fleshy  root;  its  flower  measures  from 
6  to  20  pouces  [the  pouce  =:  iVs  inches],  in  diameter,  and  floats  on  the  surface  of 
the  water.  Both  the  roots  and  the  seeds  are  eaten;  the  latter  are  of  the  size 
of  a  hazelnut,  and  have  the  taste  of  the  chestnut;  they  are  much  sought  by  the 
savages.'  I  owe  this  note  and  the  two  following  to  the  courtesy  of  Monsieur 
[Ovide]  Brunet,  professor  of  botany  in  Laval  University,  Quebec.  This  plant 
may  be  one  described  by  Father  Marquette  in  his  Recit  des  voyages,  section 
vii."  -  TAILHAN. 


one]  FOOD  AND   HUNTING  117 

erable  grease ;  for  although  this  root  is  very  sweet  and  has 
a  good  flavor,  it  sticks  to  the  throat  in  swallowing  and 
goes  down  with  difficulty,  because  it  is  very  dry.  The 
women  gather  this  root,  and  recognize  it  by  the  dried 
stem,  which  appears  sticking  up  above  the  ice.  The 
shape  [of  the  flower]  is  like  a  crown,  of  red  color;  it  is 
as  large  as  the  bottom  of  a  plate,  and  is  full  of  seeds  in 
every  way  resembling  hazelnuts;  and  when  these  are 
roasted  under  hot  cinders  they  taste  just  like  chestnuts. 

That  country  also  produces  potatoes ;  some  are  as  large 
as  an  egg,  others  have  the  size  of  one's  fist,  or  a  little 
more.  They  boil  these  in  water  by  a  slow  fire  during 
twenty-four  hours;  when  they  are  thoroughly  cooked, 
you  will  find  in  them  an  excellent  flavor,  much  re- 
sembling that  of  prunes -which  are  cooked  in  the  same 
way  in  France,  to  be  served  with  dessert.90 

The  tribes  of  the  prairies  also  find  in  certain  places 
lands  that  are  fertile,  and  kept  moist  by  the  streams  that 
water  them,  whereon  grow  onions  of  the  size  of  one's 
thumb.  The  root  is  like  a  leek,  and  the  plant  which 
grows  from  it  resembles  the  salsify.  This  onion,  I  say, 
is  so  exceedingly  acrid  that,  if  one  tried  to  swallow  it,  it 
would  all  at  once  wither  the  tongue,  the  throat,  and  the 
inside  of  the  mouth ;  I  do  not  know,  however,  whether 
it  would  have  the  same  injurious  effect  on  the  inside  of 
the  body.  But  this  difficulty  hardly  ever  occurs,  for  as 

90  This  was  the  so-called  "Indian  potato"  (Apios  tuberosa). 

-WM.  R.  GERARD. 

There  is  no  true  potato  native  in  Wisconsin ;  but  Solatium  jamesii  is  found 
west  of  the  Rockies.  The  plant  alluded  to  is  probably  Apios  tuberosa. 

-  A.  B.  STOUT. 

"The  potato  [pomme  de  terre]  which  is  here  mentioned  is  no  other  than  the 
Psoralea  esculenta,  a  plant  of  the  leguminous  family,  which  abounds  in  the 
elevated  plains  of  the  Missouri,  and  on  the  hills  in  the  vicinity  of  Saint  Louis. 
The  Canadian  voyageurs  called  it  'prairie  apple'  or  'turnip'  [pomme  ou  navet 
de  prairie}.  The  savages  always  boil  it  before  eating  it,  although  this  root 
has  not  a  disagreeable  taste  even  when  raw."-BRUNET  (cited  by  Tailhan). 


n8  NICOLAS   PERROT  [Vol. 

soon  as  one  takes  it  into  the  mouth  he  spits  it  out;  and 
one  imagines  that  it  is  a  certain  wild  garlic,  which  is 
quite  common  in  the  same  places,  and  has  also  an  insup- 
portable acridness.91 

When  the  savages  lay  in  a  store  of  these  onions,  with 
which  the  ground  is  covered,  they  first  build  an  oven, 
upon  which  they  place  the  onions,  covering  them  with 
a  thick  layer  of  grass ;  and  by  means  of  the  heat  which  the 
fire  communicates  to  them  the  acrid  quality  leaves  them, 
nor  are  they  damaged  by  the  flames ;  and  after  they  have 
been  dried  in  the  sun  they  become  an  excellent  article  of 
food.  Their  abundance,  however,  counts  for  nothing, 
although  the  agreeable  taste  which  one  finds  in  them 
often  induces  him  to  satisfy  his  appetite  with  them ;  for 
nothing  in  the  world  is  more  indigestible  and  more  [sc. 
less?]  nourishing.  You  feel  a  load  on  your  chest,  your 
belly  as  hard  as  a  drum,  and  colic  pains  which  last  two 
or  three  days.  When  one  is  forewarned  of  this  effect, 
he  refrains  from  eating  much  of  this  root.  I  speak  from 
experience,  having  been  taken  unawares  by  it;  and  after 
the  distress  which  I  experienced  from  it  I  have  no 
longer  any  desire  to  taste  it. 

The  prairies  inhabited  by  the  Illinois  produce  various 
fruits,  such  as  medlars,  large  mulberries,  plums,  and 
abundance  of  nuts,  as  in  France ;  and  many  other  fruits.92 
As  for  the  nuts,  some  are  found  as  large  as  a  hen['s  egg], 

91  Several  species  of  A  Ilium  are  found  wild  in  the  West  —  A.  trioceum,  or 
wild  leek;  A.  cernum,  wild  onion;  A.  canadense,  wild  garlic.     The  second  of 
these  may  have  been  the  one  described  in  the  text.  —  ARLOW  B.  STOUT. 

"The  data  (too  slight)  which  end  the  two  preceding  paragraphs,  on  the 
specific  characteristics  of  the  'onion'  of  Perrot  incline  me  to  believe  that  he  refers 
to  a  species  of  Allium,  probably  A.  canadense.  The  Cherokees,  who  are  neigh- 
bors of  the  Illinois,  very  willingly  use  it  as  food."  —  BRUNET  (cited  by  Tailhan). 

This  was  probably  the  common  wild  garlic  (Allium  canadense).  Plants  of 
the  genus  Allium  found  but  little  favor  with  the  Indians  as  articles  of  food. 

-  WM.  R.  GERARD. 

92  In  regard  to  the  natural  productions  of  the  prairies,  cf.  Father  Marquette's 


one]  FOOD  AND   HUNTING  119 

which  are  so  bitter  and  oily  that  they  are  good  for  noth- 
ing for  eating.  There  are  also  strawberries  in  abun- 
dance, raspberries,  and  potatoes.  But  the  people  further 
north,  as  far  up  as  Ouisconching,  have  no  longer  these 
medlars,  and  those  who  are  still  farther  away  are  with- 
out these  nuts  like  those  of  France;  with  these  excep- 
tions, they  have  all  the  other  fruits  of  which  mention 
has  just  been  made. 

V.     Hunting  the  buffalo 

I  have  already  remarked  that  the  savages  of  the 
prairies  live  in  a  happy  land,  on  account  of  the  great 
numbers  of  animals  of  all  kinds  that  they  have  about 
them,  and  the  grains,  fruits,  and  roots  which  the  soil 
there  produces  in  abundance;  but  I  have  said  nothing  of 
the  customs  which  they  practice  in  their  hunting  expe- 
ditions or  of  the  manner  in  which  they  pursue  the  chase, 
especially  that  of  the  buffalo. 

The  savages  set  out  in  the  autumn,  after  they  have 
gathered  the  harvest,  to  go  hunting;  and  they  do  not 
return  to  their  villages  until  the  month  of  March,  in 
order  to  plant  the  grain  on  their  lands.  As  soon  as  this 
is  done,  they  go  hunting  again,  and  do  not  return  until 
the  month  of  July,  which  is  the  time  when  the  rutting 
season  of  the  buffalo  begins. 

description  of  them,  in  Recit  des  voyages,  section  vii.  He  there  mentions  a  sort 
of  nut,  which  seems  to  be  similar  to  this  nut  of  which  Perrot  speaks;  but  the 
latter  says  that  it  is  worthless  for  eating,  while  Marquette  says  that  it  is  very 
good  when  ripe  —  which  may  be  "purely  a  matter  of  taste."  Other  information 
regarding  those  fruits,  etc.,  may  be  found  in  a  letter  by  Father  Gabriel  Marest, 
in  Lett,  edif.,  vol.  vi,  327.  —  TAILHAN. 

Mesles  was  the  old  French  name  for  the  fruit  of  the  medlar,  a  tree  not  found 
in  this  country.  Perhaps  the  fruit  here  mentioned  by  Perrot  was  the  persimmon, 
which  Capt.  John  Smith  likened  to  a  medlar.  The  nut  mentioned  by  Perrot 
was  possibly  that  of  Gary  a  porcina  (the  "pig-nut"),  which  attains  a  length  of 
two  inches;  it  is  oily,  and  sweet  at  the  first  taste.  The  "bitter-nut"  (C.  amara; 
name  applied  also  to  C.  cordiformis)  is  barely  an  inch  long.  —  WM.  R.  GERARD. 


120 NICOLAS   PERROT [Vol. 

The  people  of  an  entire  village  go  together  to  this 
hunting,  and,  if  there  are  not  enough  of  them,  they  unite 
with  those  of  another  village,  and  that  for  two  reasons: 
the  first,  in  order  to  defend  themselves  against  the  at- 
tacks which  their  enemies  might  make  against  them ;  and 
the  other,  that  thus  they  may  be  able  to  drive  in  a  greater 
number  of  animals. 

They  assemble  at  nightfall  on  the  eve  of  their  depar- 
ture, and  choose  among  their  number  the  man  whom 
they  consider  most  capable  of  being  the  director  of  the 
expedition.  This  is  usually  one  of  the  more  prominent 
war  chiefs;  he  takes  for  adjutants  all  the  other  chiefs, 
and  agrees  with  them  on  all  the  rules  that  should  be  laid 
down  for  the  procedure  that  they  must  observe  in  order 
to  hunt  the  buffaloes. 

On  the  same  day,  one  of  the  leading  men  makes  a 
harangue  before  all  the  assembly,  in  which  he  makes 
known  the  orders  that  have  been  issued  in  regard  to  the 
limits  which  shall  be  observed  in  this  hunt,  and  the  pun- 
ishments ordained  for  those  persons  who  overstep  them. 
He  declares  that  these  orders  provide  for  depriving  the 
disobedient  of  their  weapons,  breaking  their  bows  and 
arrows,  tearing  down  their  cabins,  and  plundering  them 
of  property  found  therein;  and  this  law  is  inexorable 
among  them.  The  reason  which  obliges  them  to  em- 
ploy so  much  severity  and  strictness  against  those  who 
fail  to  obey  the  rule  is,  that  if  any  of  them  during  the 
hunt  were  to  pass  beyond  the  prescribed  limits  all  the 
game  would  escape  them  by  flight,  and  the  village  would 
be  in  danger  of  perishing  from  hunger.  All  the  chiefs 
are  generally  subject  to  this  law;  and  even  if  he  who  is 
[appointed]  over  all  the  rest  should  commit  this  fault, 
he  would  be  punished  with  the  same  rigor  as  any  other 
man,  without  regard  to  his  authority.  In  case  he  re- 


one]  FOOD  AND   HUNTING  121 

fused  to  submit  to  it,  all  the  young  men -who  are,  so 
to  speak,  his  prop -would  unite  against  him,  and  lay 
violent  hands  on  all  persons  who  should  come  forward 
to  take  his  part. 

This  headman  of  the  chiefs,  with  his  adjutants,  forms 
the  necessary  detachments  to  go  out  scouting  on  the 
[various]  routes;  and  if  these  men  suspect  that  there  is 
any  danger  for  their  people  they  come  back  over  their 
path  in  order  to  cover  their  tracks  and  to  prevent  any 
attack  by  the  enemy. 

When  the  village  has  a  large  number  of  young  men 
able  to  bear  arms  they  divide  these  into  three  bodies: 
one  takes  its  route  to  the  right,  another  that  to  the  left, 
and  half  of  the  third  party  is  divided  between  the  two 
former  ones.  One  of  these  latter  parties  goes  away  [from 
its  main  column]  a  league  or  thereabout  to  the  right,  and 
the  other  remains  on  the  left,  both  parties  forming,  each 
on  its  own  side,  a  long  file ;  then  they  set  out,  in  single 
file,  and  continue  their  march  until  they  judge  that  their 
line  of  men  is  sufficiently  long  for  them  to  advance  into 
the  depths  [of  the  forest].  As  they  begin  their  march  at 
midnight,  one  of  the  parties  waits  until  dawn,  while  the 
others  pursue  their  way;  and  after  they  have  marched  a 
league  or  more  another  party  waits  again  for  daylight; 
the  rest  march  [until]  after  another  half-league  has  been 
covered,  and  likewise  wait.  When  the  day  has  at  last 
begun,  this  third  party  which  had  separated  to  the  right 
and  the  left  with  the  two  others  pushes  its  way  farther; 
and  as  soon  as  the  rising  sun  has  dried  off  the  dew  on  the 
ground,  the  parties  on  the  right  and  the  left,  being  in 
sight  of  each  other,  come  together  in  [one]  file,  and  close 
up  the  end  of  the  circuit  which  they  intend  to  surround. 

They  commence  at  once  by  setting  fire  to  the  dried 
herbage  which  is  abundant  in  those  prairies;  those  who 


122  NICOLAS   PERROT  [Vol. 

occupy  the  flanks  do  the  same ;  and  at  that  moment  the 
entire  village  breaks  camp,  with  all  the  old  men  and 
young  boys -who  divide  themselves  equally  on  both 
sides,  move  away  to  a  distance,  and  keep  the  hunting 
parties  in  sight  so  that  they  can  act  with  the  latter,  so  that 
the  fires  can  be  lighted  on  all  four  sides  at  once  and  grad- 
ually communicate  the  flames  from  one  to  another.  That 
produces  the  same  effect  to  the  sight  as  four  ranks  of 
palisades,  in  which  the  buffaloes  are  enclosed.  When 
the  savages  see  that  the  animals  are  trying  to  get  outside 
of  it,  in  order  to  escape  the  fires  which  surround  them 
on  all  sides  (and  this  is  the  one  thing  in  the  world  which 
they  most  fear),  they  run  at  them  and  compel  them  to 
reenter  the  enclosure ;  and  they  avail  themselves  of  this 
method  to  kill  all  the  beasts.  It  is  asserted  that  there  are 
some  villages  which  have  secured  as  many  as  fifteen  hun- 
dred buffaloes,  and  others  more  or  fewer,  according  to 
the  number  of  men  in  each  and  the  size  of  the  enclosure 
which  they  make  in  their  hunting.93  For  that  country  is 
nothing  but  plains,  except  only  some  small  islands,  to 

93  "Remains  of  the  early  species  of  the  bison  are  found  from  Alaska  to 
Georgia,  but  the  range  of  the  present  type  (Bison  americanus)  was  chiefly 
between  the  Rocky  and  Allegheny  Mountains."  The  first  authentic  account  of 
this  animal  was  that  of  Cabeza  de  Vaca,  who  saw  the  bison  on  the  plains  of 
Texas  (ca.  1530).  At  that  time  the  herds  ranged  from  northern  Mexico  north- 
westward from  the  Rio  Grande  to  British  Columbia,  through  the  valleys  of  the 
Saskatchewan  and  Red  Rivers,  thence  (to  the  west  of  Lakes  Winnipeg  and  Supe- 
rior, and  south  of  Lakes  Michigan  and  Erie)  to  the  vicinity  of  Niagara,  thence 
southward  through  the  western  portion  of  the  Atlantic  Southern  States,  and  into 
northern  Mississippi  and  Louisiana.  All  the  tribes  within  this  range  depended 
largely  on  the  buffalo  for  food  and  clothing,  and  this  dependence,  with  the 
influence  of  the  habits  of  the  animal,  profoundly  affected  tribal  customs  and 
religious  rites.  This  is  more  clearly  seen  in  the  tribes  west  of  the  Mississippi, 
where  the  people  were  in  constant  contact  with  the  buffalo  during  the  summer 
and  winter  migrations  of  the  great  northern  and  southern  herds.  These  great 
herds  were  composed  of  innumerable  smaller  ones  of  a  few  thousand  each,  for 
the  buffalo  was  never  solitary  except  by  accident  This  habit  affected  the  man- 
ner of  hunting  and  led  to  the  organization  of  hunting  parties  under  a  leader 
and  to  the  establishment  of  rules  to  insure  an  equal  chance  to  every  member  of 


one]  FOOD  AND   HUNTING  123 

which  they  are  accustomed  to  go  and  encamp  for  the 
purpose  of  drying  their  store  of  meat. 

The  elk  and  the  deer  are  quite  often  caught  in  these 
circles  of  fire,  but  make  their  escape;  and  the  savages 

the  party.  .  .  The  annual  summer  hunting  party  generally  consisted  of  the 
entire  tribe.  As  the  main  supply  of  meats  and  pelts  was  to  be  obtained,  religious 
rites  were  observed  throughout  the  time,"  with  severe  penalties  for  disobedience 
of  prescribed  rules.  This  tribal  or  ceremonial  hunt  occurred  in  the  summer 
months,  "when  the  animals  were  fat  and  their  hair  thin,  the  flesh  being  then  in 
the  best  condition  for  food  and  the  pelts  easiest  to  dress  on  both  sides  for  the 
making  of  clothing,  shields,  packs,  bags,  ropes,  snowshoes,  tent,  and  boat  covers. 
The  meat  was  cut  into  thin  sheets  and  strips  and  hung  upon  a  framework  of 
poles  to  dry  in  the  sun.  When  fully  'jerked'  it  was  folded  up  and  put  into 
parfleche  packs  to  keep  for  winter  use.  A  cow  was  estimated  to  yield  about 
forty-five  pounds  of  dried  meat  and  fifty  pounds  of  pemmican,  besides  the 
marrow,  which  was  preserved  in  bladder  skins,  and  the  tallow,  which  was 
poured  into  skin  bags."  The  sinews,  horns,  and  hair  of  the  animal  were  used 
in  various  ways,  and  even  its  dried  excrements  supplied  fuel  to  the  dwellers 
on  the  treeless  plains.  "The  buffalo  was  supposed  to  be  the  instructor  of 
doctors  who  dealt  with  the  treatment  of  wounds,  teaching  them  in  dreams 
where  to  find  healing  plants  and  the  manner  of  their  use.  The  multifarious 
benefits  derived  from  the  animal  brought  the  buffalo  into  close  touch  with  the 
people:  it  figured  as  a  gentile  totem,  its  appearance  and  movements  were 
referred  to  in  gentile  names,  its  habits  gave  designations  to  the  months,  and  it 
became  the  symbol  of  the  leader  and  the  type  of  long  life  and  plenty ;  ceremonies 
were  held  in  its  honor,  myths  recounted  its  creation,  and  its  folk-tales  delighted 
old  and  young.  The  practical  extinction  of  the  buffalo  with  the  last  quarter 
of  the  nineteenth  century  gave  a  death-blow  to  the  ancient  culture  of  the  tribes 
living  within  its  range."  —  ALICE  C.  FLETCHER,  in  Handbook  Amer.  Indians. 

In  the  Chicago  Record-Herald  for  Jan.  17,  1909,  is  an  interesting  account 
by  William  E.  Curtis  of  the  present  numbers,  habitat,  and  condition  of  the  few 
buffalo  yet  remaining  in  North  America,  compiled  from  data  obtained  from 
the  U.S.  Department  of  Agriculture  and  the  American  Bison  Society  —  an 
association  organized  at  New  York  in  December,  1905,  to  take  measures  to 
secure  the  preservation  of  the  buffalo;  its  president  is  William  T.  Hornaday, 
superintendent  of  the  zoological  gardens  in  Central  Park  of  that  city.  This 
officer  has  compiled  a  census  of  the  American  buffaloes  known  to  exist  on  Jan.  i, 
1908,  which  shows  their  numbers  as  follows:  In  Canada  476,  in  the  United 
States  i, i r 6,  in  Europe  130,  all  in  captivity;  and  of  wild  animals  25  in  the 
United  States  and  300  in  Canada  —  a  total  of  2,047  pure-blooded  bison.  Besides 
these,  there  are  a  considerable  number  of  "cattaloes,"  the  product  of  a  cross 
between  the  bison  and  the  domestic  breed  of  cattle  —  in  the  United  States  260, 
in  Canada  57,  in  Europe  28.  As  experience  shows  that  the  bison  does  not  breed 
well  in  captivity,  it  has  been  thought  best  to  provide  for  them  a  permanent  open 
range,  and  a  tract  of  land  for  this  purpose  was  selected  by  the  American  Bison 
Society  in  Missoula  County,  Montana.  —  ED. 


i24  NICOLAS   PERROT  [Vol. 

usually  follow  up  only  those  animals  that  they  are  cer- 
tain of  killing  or  of  capturing  by  surprise. 

The  people  of  the  village  then  encamp  in  the  place 
[that  they  find]  most  convenient,  and  nearest  to  the  scene 
of  the  carnage.  This  camp  being  established,  the  game 
is  divided  among  the  families,  each  receiving  what  its 
hunters  have  slain ;  some  have  more  and  others  less,  ac- 
cording to  the  number  of  men  in  each ;  but  the  whole  is 
distributed  by  the  decisions  of  the  chiefs,  with  great 
equity  and  justice.  Each  of  these  families  strips  the 
hides  from  the  animals  that  fall  to  its  share,  and  the 
people  remain  in  the  camp  until  all  their  store  of  meat  is 
thoroughly  dried.  They  are  very  careful  to  gnaw  the 
bones  of  the  animals  so  clean  that  no  meat  whatever  is 
left  on  them.  They  finish  [skinning  the  game]  before 
noon,  and  the  rest  of  the  day  is  sufficient  for  preparing 
the  meat  [for  drying]. 

The  Illinois  and  their  neighbors  have  no  lack  of  wood 

°          •"ijOO'JC^  ^  Tc»^o^<? 

for  drying  their  meat;  but  the  Ayoes94  and  the  Panys95 

TuovVO^ 

9*  "The  Ayoes,  neighbors  and  allies  of  the  Sioux,  resided  between  44°  and  45° 

north  latitude,  at  twelve  days'  journey  beyond  the  Mississippi.  They  figure 
in  one  of  the  Relations  of  New  France  under  the  name  of  Aiaoua,  or  Mascouteins 
Nadouessi  (Relation  0^.1673-1679,  chap.  iii).  Charlevoix  (Histoire,  vol.  Hi, 
396)  calls  them  Aiouez."  See  La  Potherie's  account  (Histoire,  vol.  ii,  182-184) 
of  Perrot's  first  meeting  with  this  people  (in  1685).  "In  1836  the  old-time 
alliance  of  the  Ayoes  and  the  Sioux  no  longer  existed.  I  read  the  following  in 
a  letter  by  Father  Van  Quickemborne,  of  the  Society  of  Jesus,  missionary  among 
the  Pouteouatomis  and  the  Kickabous  (Annales  de  la  propagation  de  la  Foi, 
vol.  x,  130) :  'Rumors  of  war  have  disturbed  us  for  several  days.  An  in- 
cursion by  the  northern  Sioux  is  announced ;  and  they  are  reported  to  be  already 
the  conquerors  of  the  Sacks  [Sakis,  Ousakis]  and  the  Aiouais.'  These  last  and 
the  Sakis  lived  united,  in  1836,  at  a  place  thirty  miles  north  of  Leavenworth,  in 
Kansas  (cf.  Annales,  ut  supra,  132)."  — TAILHAN. 

95  "The  Panys  of  Perrot,  Pants  of  Charlevoix  (Histoire,  vol.  iii,  212),  Pan- 
ismaha  of  the  Lett.  edif.  (vol.  vi,  327),  and  Pawnees  of  the  Anglo-American 
historians  and  geographers,  wandered  about  the  shores  and  to  the  southwest  of 
the  Missouri;  and  they  extended  very  far  toward  New  Mexico  (Charlevoix, 
ut  supra).  Father  Vwier  (Lett,  edif.,  ut  supra)  classes  them  also  among  the 
Missourian  tribes.  Even  to-day  [1864]  their  hunting-grounds  extend  to  the 
north  of  the  Platte  River  in  Nebraska.  In  1837  their  population  attained  the 


one]  FOOD  AND   HUNTING  125 

generally  use  only  the  well-dried  dung  of  the  buffaloes, 
as  wood  is  extremely  scarce  among  them. 

Thus  you  see  how  these  tribes  carry  on  their  hunting 
expeditions,  and  they  are  always  ready  and  able  to  de- 
fend their  families  against  their  enemies;  for  the  fam- 
ilies are  always,  on  the  march,  placed  on  the  flanks, 
which  are  protected  on  the  right  and  the  left  by  the 
warriors,  and  sheltered  from  the  attacks  that  might  be 
made  on  them.  Besides  that,  there  is  nothing  to  fear 
behind  them,  for  the  men  sent  out  to  reconnoiter  defend 
them  at  the  rear,  and  on  such  occasions  serve  them  as  a 
rear-guard.  It  is  impossible,  therefore,  for  the  enemy  to 
appear  without  the  entire  troop  knowing  it,  by  means  of 
the  alarm-cry  which  each  utters  to  the  next  one,  and  by 
the  prompt  assistance  of  the  warriors,  who  immediately 
hasten  to  oppose  the  enemy.  The  women  and  children 
are  out  of  danger;  the  warriors  make  a  bold  stand,  and 
are  very  seldom  driven  back. 

number  of  ten  thousand  souls  (Annales  de  la  propagation  de  la  Foi,  vol.  xi, 

394)."_TAILHAN. 

Pani  is  but  a  variant  of  Pawnee,  the  name  of  a  confederacy  belonging  to  the 
Caddoan  family,  which  migrated  slowly  toward  the  northeast,  the  Pawnee  tribes 
finally  establishing  themselves  "in  the  valley  of  Platte  River,  Nebraska,  which 
territory,  their  traditions  say,  was  acquired  by  conquest."  In  the  nineteenth 
century,  "the  trail  to  the  southwest,  and  later  that  across  the  continent,  ran 
partly  through  Pawnee  land,  and  the  increasing  travel  and  the  settlement  of  the 
country  brought  about  many  changes.  Through  all  the  vicissitudes  of  the 
nineteenth  century  the  Pawnee  never  made  war  against  the  United  States,"  but 
often  under  severe  provocation  waited  for  the  government  to  redress  their 
wrongs,  and  their  men  served  as  scouts  in  the  United  States  army  during  the 
Indian  hostilities.  By  various  treaties  (1833-1876)  they  ceded  their  lands  in 
Nebraska  to  the  government;  and  in  1876  they  "removed  to  Oklahoma,  where 
they  now  live.  In  1892  they  took  their  lands  in  severally  and  became  citizens 
of  the  United  States."  Their  numbers  have  steadily  diminished  since  1860,  and 
in  1906  there  were  but  649  survivors.  The  name  Pawnee  "is  probably  derived 
from  pariki,  'a  horn,'  a  term  used  to  designate  the  peculiar  manner  of  dressing 
the  scalp-lock,  by  which  the  hair  was  stiffened  with  paint  and  fat,  and  made  to 
stand  erect  and  look  like  a  horn."  The  name  was  also  applied  to  Indian 
slaves  in  the  seventeenth  and  eighteenth  centuries,  perhaps  because  the  Pawnees 
at  first  furnished  most  of  these  slaves.  —  ALICE  C.  FLETCHER,  in  Handbook  Amer. 
Indians. 


126  NICOLAS   PERROT  [Vol. 

In  their  winter  hunts  they  follow  the  same  rules ;  but 
the  snow  with  which  the  ground  is  entirely  covered  pre- 
vents them  from  making  the  fires  spread,  and  thus  ob- 
taining the  same  success  as  in  other  seasons  of  the  year. 
As  for  their  [hunting]  laws,  they  are  under  the  same 
obligation  to  observe  them;  but  they  are  unavoidably 
compelled  to  arrange  a  much  longer  line  of  men  to  form 
the  circuit  with  which  it  is  necessary  to  surround  the 
buffaloes.  If  any  one  of  the  animals  finds  an  opening 
for  forcing  its  way  through  them,  they  run  to  meet  it 
to  prevent  its  flight;  or  else  they  follow  behind  the  game 
so  swiftly  that  they  always  slay  many  of  the  beasts. 

It  is  only  the  skin  on  the  bellies  of  the  cows  and  that 
of  the  yearling  calves  which  the  savages  use  for  making 
their  garments;  but  the  hides  of  the  bulls  are  used  for 
[making]  bucklers,  with  which  they  ward  off  their 
enemies'  arrows  and  the  blows  of  clubs.  When  they 
wish  to  dress  this  hide,  they  cut  off  a  sufficient  piece  of  it, 
and,  after  thoroughly  scraping  both  sides  of  it,  they  boil 
it  a  moment  in  water,  and  then  take  it  out  of  the  kettle. 
Then  they  stretch  it  on  a  hoop  of  the  same  size  as  the 
buckler  that  they  intend  to  make,  and  when  it  is  entirely 
dry  it  becomes  as  hard  as  the  heavy  leather  used  for  the 
soles  of  shoes.  When  the  savages  wish  to  cut  it  for 
stretching,  they  take  pains  beforehand  to  make  it  as 
nearly  round  in  shape  as  they  can ;  and  when  it  is  quite 
dry  they  remove  the  superfluous  leather  attached  to  the 
hoop  [on  the  outer  edge] .  In  this  manner  they  make  the 
bucklers  which  they  carry  to  war. 

VI.     Manner  in  which  the  savages  hunt  the  bear  in 

winter 

Toward  the  end  of  autumn  the  bears  seek  a  place 
where  they  find  shelter  from  the  rigors  of  the  winter 


one]  FOOD  AND   HUNTING  127 

season ;  it  may  be  in  a  hollow  place  in  a  rock,  or  under 
the  roots  of  a  tree,  or  in  a  hollow  log,  or  else  in  a  hole 
that  the  bear  digs  in  the  ground.  If  the  animal  is  very 
large,  it  will  select  the  roots  of  the  largest  it  can  find 
among  the  fallen  trees,  and  cover  them  over  with  a  quan- 
tity of  spruce-branches,  in  order  to  entrench  itself  there- 
in. 

This  animal  is  in  rut  in  the  month  of  July,  at  which 
time  it  becomes  so  lean,  and  the  flesh  so  insipid  and 
disagreeable  in  flavor,  that  it  is  impossible  to  eat  it;  but 
when  that  period  has  passed,  the  bear  has  instinctive 
knowledge  of  the  fruits  that  can  restore  it  to  good  con- 
dition-such as  raspberries,  hazelnuts,  walnuts,  crab- 
apples,  plums,  acorns,  beechnuts,  berries,  and  other 
fruits,  each  according  to  its  season.  As  soon  as  the  win- 
ter has  come,  the  bear  makes  its  retreat  in  a  place  least 
exposed  to  the  cold ;  and  although  it  eats  nothing  during 
all  that  season  it  is  nevertheless  able  to  retain  the  fat 
which  has  been  supplied  to  it  by  the  fruits  on  which 
it  fed  during  the  autumn. 

The  savages  apply  themselves  to  hunting  the  bear  in 
the  season  when  the  elk  and  deer  are  lean.  A  war-chief 
will  make  up  a  party  of  young  men,  to  whom  he  will 
give  a  feast;  but  note  here  that  the  givers  of  the  feast96 
may  not  eat  of  it;  it  is  for  them  to  see  that  the  others 
eat  enough.  This  chief,  I  say,  declares  before  all  the 
assembly  that  he  desires  to  go  on  a  bear-hunt,  and  invites 
them  to  accompany  him,  telling  them  the  day  on  which 

96  "  'Those  of  the  feast,'  that  is,  the  chief  who  gives  the  feast;  for  he  alone, 
among  the  company,  abstained  from  taking  part  in  the  repast— at  least,  this  is 
what  Charlevoix  affirms  (Histoire,  vol.  iii,  116).  This  usage  is  still  in  force 
among  some  of  the  tribes  of  English  America:  'When  their  supplies  of  food 
are  abundant,  they  [the  savages  of  Lake  Abbitibbi]  sometimes  make  feasts  in 
honor  of  the  great  Manito  ...  he  who  g'ves  the  feast  has  the  right  to  sing 
during  the  entire  time  while  the  feast  lasts;  but  he  is  not  permitted  to  eat' 
(Rapport  sur  les  missions  de  Quebec,  no.  2,  52)."  — TAILHAN. 


i28  NICOLAS   PERROT  [Vol. 

he  has  decided  to  set  out.  It  must  be  understood  that 
this  feast  is  sometimes  preceded  by  a  fast  of  eight  days, 
without  eating  or  drinking,  in  order  that  the  bear  may 
be  favorable  to  the  chief  and  those  of  his  party  -  meaning 
that  he  desires  to  find  and  kill  some  bears,  without  in- 
curring any  injury  to  himself  or  his  people. 

The  day  of  their  departure  having  arrived,  he  as- 
sembles all  his  men,  who,  like  himself,  have  their  faces 
blackened  with  coal ;  and  all  remain  fasting  until  even- 
ing, when  they  eat,  but  only  a  little.  They  set  out  the 
next  morning,  and  at  the  start  the  chief  of  the  party  be- 
gins to  station  his  men  so  as  to  make  a  circuit  of  about  a 
quarter  or  a  half  of  a  league,  and  to  complete  the  en- 
closing line  which  was  planned  at  the  very  place  from 
which  they  departed.  They  beat  up  and  then  range 
through  the  tract  of  land  which  is  thus  enclosed;  and 
they  carefully  examine  all  the  trees,  roots,  and  rocky 
places  which  are  within  their  circuit,  and  kill  the  bears 
which  may  be  found  there.  As  soon  as  they  kill  one, 
they  light  a  pipe  and,  thrusting  it  into  the  animal's 
throat,  they  blow  the  smoke  out  through  its  nostrils. 
They  cut  the  string  that  is  under  the  tongue,  and  wrap 
it  in  a  piece  of  cloth  in  order  to  keep  it  with  great  care. 
After  they  have  carefully  examined  and  traversed  all 
the  places  within  this  enclosure,  the  chief  forms  still 
another  circuit,  if  the  weather  permits;  and  his  men 
search  through  this  in  the  same  manner  as  I  have  al- 
ready described. 

After  that,  they  are  occupied  in  skinning  the  bears,  and 
the  flesh  they  carry  to  their  camp.  If  among  these  ani- 
mals they  find  one  that  is  unusually  larger  and  longer 
than  the  others,  it  is  roasted  in  the  same  manner  as  a 
pig  is,  and  set  aside  for  a  solemn  feast  on  their  arrival 
at  the  village.  When  the  animal  is  skinned,  they  re- 


one]  FOOD  AND   HUNTING  129 

move  all  the  fat,  and  cut  it  into  quarters.  When  all  the 
men  have  eaten  at  the  camp,  at  evening  each  one  takes 
from  his  pouch  all  the  tongue-strings  that  he  has,  which 
are  placed  over  a  brazier  with  great  respect  and  many 
invocations -the  hunters  firmly  believing  that  if  these 
pieces  while  broiling  make  a  squeaking  sound  (which 
never  fails  to  occur),  or  curl  and  twist,  they  will  kill 
more  bears.  If,  on  the  contrary,  no  sound  is  made  in  the 
cooking,  and  the  heat  does  not  cause  the  strings  to  move, 
they  say  that  their  hunting  will  be  worth  little. 

It  is  their  custom  to  hunt  on  the  next  day  as  on  the 
first,  to  blacken  themselves  with  coal,  and  to  observe 
their  fasting  until  evening.  They  also  have  the  habit  of 
washing  themselves  before  their  meal,  with  the  notion 
that,  if  they  failed  to  do  so,  they  would  transgress  rules 
absolutely  necessary  for  obtaining  success  in  hunting 
bears ;  and  that,  these  animals  being  hidden  in  their  holes, 
the  hunters  could  not  discover  them,  or  else  would  run 
great  risk  of  being  devoured  by  them.  They  conduct 
this  hunt  with  arrows,  and  not  with  guns,  because  the 
noise  [of  the  latter]  would  frighten  those  who  were  not 
far  away,  or  prevent  them  from  leaving  their  lairs.97 

This  hunt  lasts  sometimes  eight  days  or  more;  then 
they  return  to  their  village,  to  which  they  convey  their 
meat -I  mean,  the  carcasses  cut  into  quarters;  and  the 
whole  is  divided  up  among  the  families.  If  there  is 
among  them  any  stranger,  or  any  of  their  allies,  they 
also  make  a  present  of  meat  to  such. 

If  the  hunt  is  successful,  they  invite  some  near-by  vil- 
lages, and  for  that  purpose  they  set  aside  two  or  three 

97  "It  was  actually  when  the  bear  left  its  lair  that  the  savages  killed  it"  (see 
Relation  of  1634,  chap.  ix).  Cf.  Father  Allouez,  in  Relation  of  1676,  chap.  iii. 
"These  animals  were  extraordinarily  numerous  to  the  west  of  Green  Bay  and 
Lake  Michigan.  In  one  single  campaign,  one  village  of  Pouteouatomis  killed 
more  than  five  hundred  of  them"  (see  Allouez,  ut  supra).  —  TAILHAN. 


i3o  NICOLAS    PERROT  [Vol. 

carcasses  to  give  to  these  neighbors.  A  larger  share  in 
the  spoils  of  the  chase  is  given  [to  those  persons]  who 
receive  the  strangers  at  their  houses  to  entertain  them 
and  to  make  special  feasts  for  them. 

As  for  the  great  bear  which  they  had  roasted,  as  has 
already  been  stated,  a  solemn  feast  of  it  is  made  by  the 
chief  of  the  hunting  party.  This  animal  is  carried  to  him 
entire,  not  even  excepting  its  intestines,  and  twenty  men 
are  invited  to  this  banquet.  They  cut  off  the  hide  of 
this  beast  in  pieces  three  or  four  fingers  long;  they  make 
a  sort  of  dressing  composed  of  chunks  of  fat;  as  for  the 
intestines,  both  large  and  small,  these  remain  as  they  are. 
They  borrow  the  great  kettles  which  are  reserved  for 
feasts  of  this  sort -which  always  remain  outside,  and  are 
brought  into  the  cabin  only  when  used  on  such  occasions. 
Those  gentlemen  take  care  to  cook  the  flesh,  the  head,  the 
haslet,  and  the  entrails  of  the  bear;  but  the  blood  is  pre- 
pared separately,  seasoned  with  the  grease  from  the 
fat  of  the  animal,  which  is  melted  out  beforehand. 
When  all  is  cooked  and  ready  to  eat,  the  chief  cooks 
take  as  many  wooden  sticks  as  there  are  persons  to  be 
invited,  and  demand  from  the  giver  of  the  feast  the 
names  of  those  whom  he  wishes  to  invite ;  and  when  he 
has  named  them  one  of  these  sticks  is  carried  to  each 
guest,  with  the  declaration  that  he  is  invited  to  a  feast 
at  the  house  of  [So-and-so].  They  do  not  fail  to  go 
thither,  each  carrying  his  own  dish,  and  on  their  arrival 
take  their  places.  If  there  are  strangers  in  the  room, 
they  are  placed  next  to  the  giver  of  the  feast;  if  not,  the 
chiefs  have  that  place.  The  host  has  a  divinity,  sup- 
posed [to  be  chosen]  at  his  pleasure,  to  whom  he  dedi- 
cates the  feast;  and  his  assistants  serve  all  the  guests 
present.  There  are  only  three  or  four  who  must  without 
fail  eat  the  head,  blood,  and  haslet  of  the  bear;  and  each 


one]  FOOD  AND   HUNTING  131 

of  the  others  [must  eat]  a  slice  of  the  fat  a  brasse98  in 
length  (which  is  distributed  among  them  as  equally  as 
possible),  if  they  are  to  expect  the  god  of  the  earth  to 
grant  to  the  village  his  favor  and  abundance  of  his  bless- 
ings. They  are  still  further  obliged  to  drink  among 
them  all  the  oil  or  grease  which  floats  on  the  broth  after 
the  meat  is  cooked,  and  they  swallow  it  as  if  it  were 
wine.  It  is  not  without  making  great  efforts  that  they 
come  to  the  end  [of  the  feast]  ;  and  when  they  cannot 
chew  any  longer,  and  the  morsels  cannot  pass  their 
throats,  they  take  some  spoonfuls  of  the  broth  to  make 
these  slip  down.  There  are  some  of  them  who  die  from 
such  excesses,  and  others  who  are  scarcely  able  to  re- 
cover from  them;  see  to  what  extremes  pride  and  glut- 
tony carry  those  peoples.  For  if  they  have  eaten  every- 
thing they  are  congratulated  thereon,  and  the  spectators 
come  to  tell  them,  by  way  of  praise,  that  they  are  [in- 
deed] men;  they  reply  to  all  these  civilities  by  saying 
that  it  is  only  the  proper  thing  for  brave  men  to  do  their 
duty  on  such  an  occasion. 

When  the  hunters  arrive  at  the  village,  if  they  are 
loaded  all  the  children,  as  far  away  as  they  can  descry 
them,  shout  aloud  their  joy  at  the  sight,  with  repeated 
exclamations  of  Kousf  Kous/  and  do  this  without  stop- 
ping until  the  hunters  have  laid  down  their  loads  at  the 
doors  of  their  cabins.  Such  is  always  the  practice  at  the 
arrival  of  the  hunters.  For  as  soon  as  one  [of  the  chil- 
dren] raises  an  outcry  the  rest  run  out  of  their  houses 
in  order  to  second  him,  and  the  fathers  and  mothers  even 
strive  to  urge  them  on  in  their  shouts." 

98  The  brasse  was  a  linear  measure  of  five  old-French  feet,  or  1.62  metres, 
equivalent  to  5.318  English  feet. —  En. 

99  "Very  singular  ceremonies  preceded,  accompanied,  and  followed  the  feast 
in  which  the  Montagnais  (the  lower  Algonquins)   ate  the  bear  killed  in  their 
hunting"  (see  Relation  of  1635,  chap,  iv;  id.  of  1637,  chap.  xi).     "The  Montag- 
nais, converted  to  Catholicism,  long  ago  renounced  all  these  superstitious  prac- 


i32  NICOLAS   PERROT  [Vol. 

XII.     Moral  traits  of  the  savages 

yl 

There  are  both  good  and  bad  traits  among  the  sav- 
ages. The  most  praiseworthy  are  their  hospitality  and 
the  harmony  which  prevails  between  them  and  the  per- 
sons connected  with  them.  They  have  also  many  faults : 
ambition,  vengeance,  self-interest,  and  vainglory  entirely 
possess  their  hearts.  They  follow  three  principles  which 
induce  them  to  plunge  with  excess  into  all  kinds  of  vices. 

I.     The  hospitality  of  the  savages 

The  hospitality  that  they  exercise  surpasses  all  that 
which  is  general  among  the  Europeans.  When  any 
stranger  asks  it  from  them,  they  could  not  receive  him 
more  kindly,  no  matter  how  unknown  he  may  be ;  it  is 
on  their  side  the  most  friendly  of  welcomes,  and  they 
even  go  so  far  as  to  spend  all  their  means  to  entertain 
those  whom  they  receive.  A  stranger  as  soon  as  he 
arrives  [at  a  cabin]  is  made  to  sit  down  on  a  mat,  of  the 
handsomest  [that  they  have],  in  order  to  rest  from  his 
fatigue ;  they  take  off  his  shoes  and  stockings,  and  grease 
his  feet  and  legs ;  and  the  stones  are  at  once  put  in  the 
fire,  and  all  preparations  quickly  made,  in  order  to  give 
him  a  sweat.100  The  master  of  the  family,  and  some 

tices.  To-day,  when  they  have  slain  a  bear  they  make  with  it  a  feast  to  which 
they  invite  all  their  friends,  and  at  which  the  fat  of  this  animal  constitutes 
the  most  esteemed  viand.  The  head  of  the  bear  is  exposed  at  the  top  of  a 
pole,  in  the  same  place  where  it  was  killed.  It  is  a  trophy  erected  by  the 
hunters  in  order  to  make  known  to  all  who  pass  that  way  their  good  success. 
Cf.  Missions  de  Quebec,  nth  rep.,  63,  94.  .  .  Among  the  peoples  of  the  Bay 
of  Puans,  the  head  of  the  slain  bear  received  the  adoration  of  the  guests  occupied 
with  eating  its  body"  (Relation  of  1672,  chap.  ii).  "The  Miamis  ate  the  bear 
at  the  beginning  [of  the  feast],  and  afterward  they  adored  its  skin"  (see  Father 
Allouez  in  Relation  of  1674,  chap.  xii).  "The  customs  of  Finland  also  establish 
the  great  honors  paid  to  the  bear  slain  by  the  hunters  —  a  usage  doubtless  origi- 
nating in  various  countries  from  the  terror  which  this  powerful  animal  inspires, 
and  from  the  benefits  obtained  by  the  family  from  hunting  it."  -  TAILHAN. 
100  See  description  of  this  sweating  process  in  Relation  of  1634,  chap,  vi  — 


one]  MORAL  TRAITS  133 

other  men  who  are  prominent  in  the  community,  go  with 
him  into  the  place  where  the  sweat  is  given,  and  allow 
him  to  lack  for  nothing  therein.  The  kettle  is  over  the 
fire,  so  as  to  provide  food  for  him  when  he  comes  out  of 
the  sweat;  and  if  the  cabin  in  which  he  lodges  is  not  very 
well  supplied  with  provisions,  search  is  made  through- 

"another  point  of  resemblance  to  the  northern  peoples  of  Eastern  Russia." 

—  TAILHAN. 

"Few  practices  were  so  universal  among  the  Indians  as  the  sweat-bath, 
probably  known  to  every  tribe  north  of  Mexico,  although  along  the  northwest 
coast  south  of  the  Eskimo  territory  it  seems  to  have  been  superseded  by  bathing 
in  the  sea.  The  sweat-lodge  is  to  this  day  common  in  most  Indian  villages  and 
camps.  The  type  of  the  ordinary  sweat-house  seems  to  have  been  everywhere 
the  same.  Willow  rods  or  other  pliant  stems  were  stuck  into  the  ground  and 
bent  and  fastened  with  withes  into  a  hemispherical  or  oblong  framework,  which 
usually  was  large  enough  to  accommodate  several  persons.  A  hole  conveniently 
near  the  door  was  dug,  into  which  stones,  usually  heated  outside,  were  dropped 
by  means  of  forked  sticks.  These  were  sprinkled  with  water  to  furnish  steam. 
A  temporary  covering  of  blankets  or  skins  made  the  inclosure  tight.  This  was 
the  sweat-house  in  its  simplest  form.  .  .  In  no  tribe  was  the  sweat-lodge 
made  except  according  to  prescribed  rules.  In  permanent  villages  a  more  roomy 
and  substantial  house  was  made.  .  .  Among  the  Indian  tribes  methods  of 
sweating  seem  to  have  been  everywhere  very  similar.  After  a  half-hour  or 
more  spent  in  the  steaming  air  of  the  sweat-house,  the  bather  plunged  into  the 
cold  water  of  a  stream,  when  one  was  near,  and  thus  the  function  ended." 

"There  seem  to  have  been  three  distinct  purposes  for  which  sweating  was 
practiced.  First,  it  was  a  purely  religious  rite  or  ceremony  for  the  purpose  of 
purifying  the  body  and  propitiating  spirits.  A  sweat-bath  was  always  under- 
gone by  warriors  preparing  for  war,  among  many  tribes,  by  boys  at  the  puberty 
age;  and,  perhaps  generally,  before  any  serious  or  hazardous  undertaking. 
Such  ceremonial  baths  were  almost  always  attended  by  scarification  or  the  muti- 
lation of  some  part  of  the  body.  .  .  No  doubt  the  offering  of  prayers  in  the 
sweat-house  for  success  in  various  enterprises  was  a  general  custom.  The 
religious  motive  probably  gave  rise  to  the  practice,  and  it  was  by  far  the  most 
important  in  the  estimation  of  the  Indian.  Second,  sweating  was  important  in 
medical  practice  for  the  cure  of  disease.  The  underlying  idea  was  doubtless 
analogous  to  its  religious  and  ceremonial  use,  since  it  was  intended  to  influence 
disease  spirits,  and  was  usually  prescribed  by  the  shaman,  who  sang  outside  and 
invoked  the  spirits  while  the  patient  was  in  the  sweat-house.  .  .  Third,  it 
was  often  purely  social  and  hygienic.  A  number  of  individuals  entered  the 
sweat-house  together,  apparently  actuated  only  by  social  instinct  and  appreciation 
of  the  luxury  of  a  steam  bath."  Among  some  tribes  this  was  "an  almost  daily 
custom,  frequently  having  no  other  purpose  than  to  give  pleasure.  It  is  prob- 
able that  this  practice  is  modern  and  that  the  sweat-bath  has  lost  something 
of  its  primitive  importance  and  sacredness."  —  H.  W.  HENSHAW,  in  Handbook 
Amer.  Indians. 


i34  NICOLAS   PERROT  [Vol. 

out  the  village  for  the  best  food  for  him.  I  mean  here 
the  best  grain  and  the  best  quality  of  meat  which  can  be 
found,  for  which  the  man  in  whose  house  the  stranger  is 
accommodated  afterward  pays,  often  at  four  times  what 
it  is  usually  worth.  While  the  guest  is  eating,  all  the 
leading  people  come  to  pay  him  visits.  If  he  is  clad  in 
cloth  garments,  they  take  from  him  his  clothing,  and  in- 
stead they  give  him  furs,  of  their  handsomest  and  most 
valued,  to  clothe  him  from  head  to  foot.  He  is  invited 
to  all  the  feasts  that  are  given  in  the  village,  and  in  con- 
versation they  inquire  of  him  for  some  news  from  his 
own  part  of  the  country.  If  he  knows  of  nothing  new, 
he  draws  on  his  imagination  for  it;  and  even  if  he  lies 
no  one  would  venture  to  contradict  him,  even  supposing 
that  they  were  quite  certain  of  facts  contrary  to  his 
stories.  There  is  but  one  person  alone  of  the  entire  as- 
sembly who  converses  with  the  stranger ;  all  the  rest  keep 
silence,  with  the  reserve  and  modesty  that  are  prescribed 
for  a  novice  in  a  religious  order,  in  which  he  is  obliged 
to  maintain  this  behavior  under  penalty  of  the  severe 
measures  belonging  to  the  most  strict  rule  on  this  point. 
When  the  stranger  shows  a  desire  to  return  whence  he 
came,  they  load  him  with  what  is  most  suitable  for  his 
journey;  if  he  is  inclined  to  prefer  peltries  to  other 
goods,  these  are  given  to  him.  They  are  just  as  liberal 
toward  those  who  give  them  nothing  as  to  those  who 
carry  [presents]  to  them. 

This  sort  of  reception  is  ordinary  among  the  savages; 
in  point  of  hospitality,  it  is  only  the  Abenakis,  and  those 
who  live  with  the  French  people,  who  have  become 
somewhat  less  liberal,  on  account  of  the  advice  that  our 
people  have  given  them  by  placing  before  them  the  obli- 
gations resting  on  them  to  preserve  what  they  have.  At 
the  present  time,  it  is  evident  that  these  savages  are  fully 
as  selfish  and  avaricious  as  formerly  they  were  hospit- 


one]  MORAL  TRAITS  135 

able.  Although  they  are  no  less  haughty  than  they  were 
before,  they  have  fallen  very  low  in  sordidness,  even  so 
far  as  to  beg;  and  notwithstanding  all  that,  the  most 
singular  thing  is,  that  they  not  only  consider  themselves 
so  necessary  to  those  who  aid  them  to  live,  but  regard 
those  very  persons  as  their  inferiors  and  incapable  of 
excelling  them.  Those  of  the  savages  who  have  not  been 
too  much  humored  [by  the  French]  are  attached  to  the 
ancient  custom  of  their  ancestors,  and  among  themselves 
are  very  compassionate.  If  any  one  of  them  is  in  want, 
they  at  once  unite  their  efforts  to  assist  him.  When  there 
has  been  scarcity  of  grain  among  their  allies,  they  have 
invited  the  latter  to  come  to  them  for  it.  They  are  very 
tender-hearted  in  regard  to  sick  people,  for  they  employ 
all  means  in  their  power,  and  give  all  that  they  can,  to 
relieve  the  sufferings  of  these.  If  there  is  any  child  cap- 
tured from  their  enemies  whose  life  has  been  spared, 
and  whose  master  allows  him  to  suffer  for  lack  of  food, 
they  give  him  something  to  eat. 

When  a  stranger  to  whom  they  have  given  hospitality 
wishes  to  go  home  and  is  ready  to  depart,  the  host  who 
has  received  him  packs  up  his  belongings,  and  gives  him 
the  best  things  that  he  has  in  his  cabin -whether  in  pel- 
tries, trade-goods,  or  provisions -that  may  be  necessary 
to  the  guest  on  his  journey.  Although  such  generosity 
may  be  astonishing,  it  must  be  admitted  that  ambition  is 
more  the  motive  for  it  than  is  charity.  One  hears  them 
boast  incessantly  of  the  agreeable  manner  with  which 
they  receive  people  into  their  houses,  and  of  the  gifts  that 
they  bestow  on  their  guests  -  although  it  is  not  denied 
that  this  is  done  smilingly  and  with  all  possible  gra- 


ciousness.101 


101  "Most  of  the  Relations  —  those,  for  example,  of  1634  (chap,  v  and  xiii), 
of  1635,  °f  l636  (chap,  vi),  and,  finally,  of  1673   (chap,  ii)  —bestow  the  same 


i36  NICOLAS   PERROT  [Vol. 

II.     Of  the  harmony  among  the  savages 

The  harmony  which  subsists  among  the  savages  is  in 
truth  displayed  not  only  by  their  words,  but  in  their 
actual  conduct.  The  chiefs  who  are  most  influential  and 
well-to-do  are  on  an  equal  footing  with  the  poorest,  and 
even  with  the  boys -with  whom  they  converse  as  they  do 
with  persons  of  discretion.  They  warmly  support  and 
[even]  take  in  hand  the  cause  of  one  another  among 
friends;  and  when  there  are  any  disputes  they  proceed 
therein  with  great  moderation.  They  expose  themselves 
as  little  as  possible  to  personal  encounters  and  disputes 
together;102  and  if  there  is  any  person  who  deserves  a 
reprimand,  this  is  given  to  him  with  great  mildness. 
The  old  men  treat  the  young  men  as  sons,  and  these  call 
the  old  men  their  "fathers."  Seldom  are  there  quarrels 
between  them.  When  some  erring  person  has  committed 
an  evil  deed  through  a  hasty  and  choleric  disposition,  the 
entire  village  takes  an  interest  in  the  settlement  of  the 

praise  on  the  hospitality  of  the  savages  as  does  Perrot.  'Hospitality,'  it  is  said 
in  the  last-named  Relation  just  cited,  'is  a  moral  virtue  which  is  very  common 
among  the  savages.'  If,  then,  one  chances  on  certain  passages  (Relation  of  1634, 
chap,  vi)  where  the  contrary  seems  to  be  affirmed,  it  must  be  understood  of 
savages  spoiled  by  the  neighborhood  of  Europeans,  and  initiated  by  them  into 
the  meanest  calculations  of  cupidity.  It  must,  however,  be  admitted  that 
savage  hospitality  seems  to  have  been  frequently  blind  lavishness,  by  which  one 
man  expected  to  retaliate  upon  another;  it  was  quite  as  much  extravagant  dis- 
play of  comradeship,  and  heedlessness  of  the  future,  as  cordial  liberality.  'A 
savage  will  observe  that  the  kettle  is  over  the  fire  at  his  neighbor's  house,  or 
that  the  latter  is  actually  eating  his  meal,  and  he  will  go,  without  ceremony 
and  without  being  invited,  to  sit  down  there  and  eat  as  if  he  were  in  his  own 
house ;  and  ...  he  returns  home  without  taking  into  account  the  favor  that 
he  has  just  received  —  because,  in  his  eyes,  it  is  not  a  favor.  The  next  day, 
another  man  will  do  the  same  by  him'  (Missions  de  Quebec,  izth  rep.,  66)." 

-  TAILHAN. 
102  "The  harmony  among  the  members  of  the  same  tribe,  and  especially 

among  those  of  the  same  family,  was  and  still  is  truly  admirable  among  the 
savages.  Perrot,  in  his  depiction  of  this  for  us,  falls  short  of  the  reality."  See 
Relation  of  1636,  part  2,  chap,  vi;  and  an  especially  interesting  example  of 
fraternal  love,  in  Relation  of  1648,  chap,  x;  cf.  also  Relation  of  1634,  chap.  v. 

-  TAILHAN. 


one] 


MORAL  TRAITS 


137 


affair;  they  contribute  together  to  render  satisfaction  to 
the  injured  party,  who  finds  no  difficulty  in  laying  aside 
the  vengeance  which  he  had  proposed  to  take  on  the 
offender;  and  they  seldom  refuse  to  accept  the  decision 
of  any  prominent  man  who  intervenes  in  the  affair. 
Sometimes  there  are  some  of  them  who  positively  in- 
sist on  the  death  of  the  guilty  person  ;  and  if  the  old  men 
come  to  an  agreement  about  it  those  who  are  inclined  to 
vengeance  will  not  say  a  word,  but  will  not  fail,  at  the 
first  opportunity,  to  break  the  head  of  some  relative  or 
tribesman  of  the  murderer  -or  of  several,  according  to 
the  number  of  people  who  have  been  slain.  For  if  they 
killed  more  [than  that  number]  ,  that  would  be  the  means 
of  arousing  a  war;  instead,  they  only  return  blow  for 
blow,  and  are  quits  for  it  by  the  presents  which  they 
make  -as  they  say,  to  wipe  away  the  blood  [that  was 
shed].  If  the  first  one  slain  was  a  man,  his  death  will 
be  avenged  upon  a  son  of  the  murderer.  When  affairs 
are  settled,  they  are  satisfied  on  both  sides,  as  has  been 
said. 

If  any  person  encounters  a  grievous  accident  or  a 
great  misfortune,  the  entire  village  takes  an  interest  in 
it,  and  goes  to  console  him.  The  men  perform  this  duty 
for  the  men,  and  the  women  fulfil  it  for  one  another 
among  themselves.  Visits  of  this  sort  are  paid  to  the 
afflicted  person  without  conversation.  The  visitor  fills 
his  pipe  with  tobacco  and  presents  it  to  the  other  to 
smoke;  after  he  has  smoked  it  for  a  little  while  he  re- 
turns it  to  the  person  who  gave  it  to  him,  so  that  the  latter 
also  may  smoke.  This  method  of  smoking  by  turns  lasts 
for  some  time,  and  then  he  who  came  to  console  returns 
to  his  own  house;  and  on  his  departure  the  sufferer 
thanks  him  for  the  kindly  interest  in  his  troubles  which 
his  visitor  has  shown.  You  must  know  that  custom  or- 


i38  NICOLAS   PERROT  [Vol. 

dains  that  visits  of  this  sort  must  be  serious,  and  made 
in  silence ;  the  reason  which  they  give  for  this  is,  that  if 
they  should  use  their  voices  for  condolence  on  these  occa- 
sions they  would  cause  such  agitation  in  the  mind  of  him 
who  was  in  affliction  that  it  would  excite  him  to  ven- 
geance for  the  injury,  or  on  the  person  who  had  wronged 
him. 

III.     Justice  among  the  savages 

When  savages  have  committed  theft  and  are  discov- 
ered, they  are  compelled  to  make  restitution,  or  to  give 
satisfaction  for  the  theft  with  other  goods  in  case  these 
stolen  are  spent.  If  there  should  be  failure  to  render  this 
satisfaction,  the  man  who  had  been  robbed  would  gather 
several  of  his  comrades,  and  would  go -entirely  naked, 
as  if  he  were  marching  against  his  enemies,  and  carrying 
his  bow  and  arrows- into  the  cabin  of  the  thief,  where  he 
plunders  and  seizes  everything  that  belongs  to  him ;  nor 
does  the  guilty  man  dare  to  say  a  word,  but  keeps  his 
head  bowed  down  between  his  knees.  But  if  he  feels 
that  he  is  innocent  of  the  crime  of  which  he  is  accused, 
he  rushes  to  seize  his  weapons,  and  tries  to  oppose  this 
pillage.  The  spectators  who  are  present  hold  back  those 
who  are  most  hot-headed;  but  if  there  were  only  the 
parties  concerned  the  affair  would  not  pass  by  without 
bloodshed,  or  some  one  being  killed.  If,  on  the  contrary, 
the  accused  were  innocent  and  had  killed  his  man  [while 
defending  his  property],  it  would  not  be  necessary  for 
him  to  make  satisfaction ;  for  his  innocence  would  shelter 
him  from  all  evil  results.  But  when  he  is  really  a 
criminal  he  himself  utters  his  own  condemnation,  and 
never  denies  the  fact,  and  he  quietly  suffers  when  three 
or  four  times  the  amount  of  what  he  stole  is  taken  away 
from  him.  If  among  his  goods  there  were  any  article 
that  he  had  borrowed,  its  owner  comes  forward  to  re- 


one]  MORAL  TRAITS  139 

claim  what  belongs  to  him,  which  is  surrendered  to  him 
without  any  objection,  the  savages  never  appropriating 
anything  of  what  does  not  pertain  to  them.103 

When  one  of  their  connections  commits  a  murder  and 
is  discovered  to  be  its  author,  all  the  old  men  come  to- 
gether, make  up  among  themselves  a  considerable  pres- 
ent, and  send  it  by  deputies,  in  order  to  come  to  an  agree- 
ment regarding  means  to  arrest  vengeance ;  for  they  all 
are  involved  in  that  vengeance,  so  far  as  it  concerns  in 
particular  the  leading  persons  of  the  offended  tribe.j' 
The  deputies,  on  their  arrival  at  the  place  to  which  they 
were  sent,  enter  with  their  presents  the  cabin  of  the 
murdered  person;  and  the  reception  given  to  them  is 
similar  to  that  previously  described  when  writing  of  the 
sweat-house.  After  the  envoys  have  eaten  what  is  of- 
fered to  them,  they  produce  their  presents  in  the  middle 
of  the  cabin,  and  demand  that  all  the  chiefs  be  called  in 
,  to  hear  them;  and  when  all  have  come  they  speak  as 
follows : 

"We  are  here  to  confess  to  you  the  crime  committed 
by  one  of  our  young  men  upon  So-and-so"  (and  then 
they  name  the  man  who  was  slain) .  "Our  village  does 
not  approve  the  [act  of  the]  murderer.  You  know  that 
you  have  been  our  allies  for  a  long  time,  and  that  your 
ancestors  and  ours  presented  the  calumets  to  each  other 
to  smoke  together"  ( they  mention  the  year) .  "Since  that 
time  our  villages  have  always  aided  each  other  against 
such  and  such  a  nation,  with  whom  we  were  at  war. 
You  are  not  ignorant  that  our  dead  are  in  the  other 
world,  in  the  same  place  as  yours;  and  if  Heaven  has 
permitted  that  one  deluded  man  has  overthrown  or 

103  Observe  the  attitude  of  the  Hurons  (although  they  were  very  thievish) 
toward  this  offense,  as  mentioned  in  Relation  of  1636,  chap,  vi;  and  "the  village 
near  which  a  theft  has  been  committed  is  responsible  for  it,  if  the  actual  offender 
cannot  be  detected  (Relation  of  1637,  part  2,  chap.  i)."-TAlLHAN. 


i4o  NICOLAS    PERROT  [Vol. 

broken  the  union  which  our  ancestors  had  with  you,  and 
which  we  have  always  maintained,  we  have  therefore 
come  with  the  design  of  averting  your  just  resentment. 
While  you  are  waiting  for  a  more  complete  satisfaction, 
this  present  which  we  offer  you  is  to  wipe  away  your 
tears ;  that  one  is  to  lay  a  mat  under  the  corpse  of  your 
dead;  and  this  other,  to  lay  on  him  a  sheet  of  bark  to 
cover  him  and  shield  him  from  the  bad  effects  of  the 
weather." 

If  the  relatives  of  the  dead  man  should  be  unwilling 
to  hear  any  talk  of  satisfaction,  and  should  take  the  reso- 
lution of  positively  obtaining  vengeance  for  their  loss, 
several  of  the  old  men  would  intervene  with  presents, 
in  order  to  become  mediators.  They  would  argue  that  the 
people  were  placing  themselves  on  the  verge  of  having  a 
war,  with  most  grievous  consequences,  and,  entreating 
the  afflicted  ones  to  have  pity  on  their  land,  would  warn 
them  that  when  war  was  once  kindled  there  would  no 
longer  be  safety  in  any  place ;  that  many  innocent  per- 
sons would  be  sacrificed;  that  warriors  attack  indis- 
criminately all  whom  they  encounter  while  on  the 
warpath;  that  there  would  be  no  longer  any  peace  or 
confidence  between  neighbors;  and  that,  in  short,  they 
would  behold  desolation  so  great  that  brother  would  slay 
brother  and  cousin  slay  cousin,  and  that  they  would  be 
their  own  destroyers  ;(jor  as  the  ties  of  marriage  and 
alliance  are  so  strongly  knit  together,  each  man  con- 
siders himself  as  a  member  no  longer  of  the  village 
where  he  was  born,  but  of  that  one  in  which  he  has 
settled. 

If  tHe  distressed  relatives  steadily  persist  in  trying  to 
obtain  vengeance,  and  if  the  village  is  a  large  one  and 
inclined  to  support  their  contention,  the  chiefs  are  de- 
tailed to  confer  with  the  principal  men  among  the  mur- 


one]  MORAL  TRAITS  141 

derer's  relatives,  who  are  continually  on  their  guard. 
These  envoys  set  forth,  when  there  is  no  way  of  settling 
the  difficulty,  that  they  are  in  danger  of  the  destruction, 
for  the  sake  of  one  man,  of  an  entire  village,  [and  that] 
by  allies  who  cease  to  be  such  when  they  declare  them- 
selves enemies,  and  who  are  certainly  very  strong.  They 
therefore  induce  the  relatives,  by  dint  of  presents,  to  de- 
liver the  guilty  man  to  his  own  comrades,  who  break  his 
head  and  then  cut  it  off  to  send  it  to  the  dead  man's  rela- 
tives. After  that,  presents  are  made  on  both  sides  in 
order  to  complete  the  arrangement.104 

IV.     Of  the  ambition  and  vainglory  of  the  savages 

All  the  savages  generally  display  much  vainglory  in 
their  actions,  whether  good  or  bad.  They  are  as  vain  of 
debauchery  as  of  valor;  of  the  excesses  and  insolent  acts 
that  they  commit  when  drunken,  as  of  the  chase ;  and  of 
lewdness,  as  of  generosity.  When  they  choose  to  glorify 
themselves  for  the  good  that  they  have  done,  or  the 
services  that  they  have  rendered  to  any  one,  they  use 
audacious  taunts;  and  in  order  to  praise  themselves  for 
things  that  are  worthy  of  reproach,  they  employ  lan- 
guage and  a  certain  manner  of  speaking  that  are  so 
ridiculous  and  intolerable  that  nothing  more  would  be 
needed,  among  Europeans,  to  excite  quarrels.  You 
would  be  astonished  at  seeing  them  get  ready  [for  some 

104  «it  is  no  longer  a  question  of  presents  when  the  head  of  the  culprit  has 
been  cut  off;  but  this  happens  so  rarely  that  one  might  say  it  did  not  exist" 

-  ANON. 

"Poisoners  taken  in  the  act,  or  those  who  were  suspected  of  having  by  their 
sorceries  caused  the  death  of  any  one,  were  killed  without  any  form  of  trial  (Re- 
lation of  1635).  As  for  other  murderers,  they  were  usually  under  obligation  only 
to  pay  the  price  of  blood  to  the  relatives  of  the  victim ;  and  yet  it  was  not  they, 
but  their  village  or  their  tribe,  which  must  furnish  this  amount.  Hardly  ever 
was  this  price  refused."  See  Relation  of  1636,  chap,  vi;  also  that  of  1648,  chap, 
xvii;  in  the  latter,  Ragueneau  says,  "In  one  word,  it  is  the  crime  that  is 
punished."  —  TAILHAN. 


i42  NICOLAS    PERROT  [Vol. 

occasion]  ;  they  do  not  know  what  posture  to  assume ;  I 
believe  that  if  they  had  a  mirror  before  their  eyes105 
they  would  change  their  appearance  every  quarter  of  an 
hour.  Are  they  occupied  with  their  hair,  they  arrange 
it  over  and  over  again,  in  the  most  elaborate  manner 
that  they  can  devise.  They  are  no  less  fantastic  in  mak- 
ing up  their  faces  with  different  colors,  which  they  are 
continually  applying  thereon.  In  one  word,  ambition 
is  one  of  the  strongest  passions  which  animate  them. 

V.     Of  the  vengeance  of  the  savages 

The  vengeance  of  the  savages  is  more  often  inspired 
by  ambition  than  by  courage,  for  there  are  no  people  in 
the  world  more  cowardly  than  they  are.106  That  is  made 

105  "That  is  something  which  they  are  never  without."  —  ANON. 

It  is  said  of  the  Outaouais  that  they  always  "carry  a  mirror  in  the  hand,  and 
very  often  gaze  at  themselves  to  admire  their  grotesque  ornaments"  (Annales 
de  la  propagation  de  la  Foi,  vol.  iv,  543).  "In  order  to  witness  similar  ridicu- 
lous performances,  it  is  not  absolutely  necessary  to  go  so  far  as  among  the 
savages."  -  TAILHAN. 

ice  "Perrot  here  seems  to  me  much  too  severe,  his  European  prejudices  not 
permitting  to  render  to  the  savage's  valor  the  justice  which  is  due  him.  From 
the  fact  that  those  peoples  do  not  understand  courage  in  our  way,  it  does  not 
follow  that  we  can  accuse  them  of  cowardice.  They  are  almost  as  brave  as 
the  heroes  of  Homer.  It  is  success  that  they  seek  above  all  else ;  moreover,  when 
they  see  fortune  turning  against  them  and  find  that  one  path  is  still  open  to 
flight,  they  do  not  hesitate  to  take  it  — not  so  much  through  fear  of  death  as 
because  they  have  gone  to  war  in  order  to^carry  away  the  scalp  of  their  enemy, 
and  not  to  leave  their  own  with  him.  They  hold,  therefore,  in  slight  esteem 
those  deaths  so  glorious  to  the  modern  mode  of  thinking,  which  might  have  been 
averted  by  seasonable  precaution."  But  they  have  actually  displayed  almost 
incredible  bravery  in  some  battles  (see  especially  the  account  of  an  assault  by 
Iroquois  on  Fort  Richelieu,  in  Relation  of  1642,  chap,  xi),  and  in  numberless 
cases  of  death  by  torture  at  the  hands  of  a  pitiless  enemy.  "That  the  courage 
of  those  peoples  may  need  to  be  aroused  by  motives  of  vengeance,  of  honor,  or 
of  self-interest,  I  willingly  admit  on  the  testimony  of  Perrot;  but  what  civilized 
man  is  not  a  savage  in  this  respect?  Such  motives  were  not  lacking  among 
them,  bravery  being  held  in  high  esteem  among  our  Indians;  and,  united  with 
liberality,  it  alone  could  secure  any  influence  among  them.  The  extraordinary 
value  which  they  placed  on  it,  may  even  furnish  us  a  tolerably  plausible  ex- 
planation of  the  horrible  torments  that  they  inflicted  on  their  prisoners  of  war. 
Among  some  of  those  tribes,  one  would  think,  it  was  actually  their  main  pur- 


one]  MORAL  TRAITS  143 

sufficiently  evident  in  their  fits  of  passion  by  the  trem- 
bling with  which  their  bodies  are  seized,  and  the  pallor 
which  would  appear  upon  their  faces  if  these  were  not 
covered  with  black,  red,  or  other  colors.  They  expose 
themselves  to  danger  with  great  rashness;107  it  is  that 
which  renders  them  so  enterprising;  for  if  ambition  ex- 
cites them  to  vengeance  they  will  go  stealthily  to  kill  a 
man  in  the  midst  of  his  friends,  and  to  confront  an 
ambuscade,  even  though  they  are  sure  that  they  can 
never  return  from  the  undertaking.108  They  are  so  bold 
that  they  will  approach  a  hostile  camp  so  near  that  they 
can  count  their  foes.109  But  all  these  extraordinary  dis- 
plays of  courage  are  maintained  only  through  vainglory, 
or  from  a  passion  to  attract  praises  to  themselves,  either 
during  life  or  after  death.  Notwithstanding,  the  re- 
proach has  quite  often  been  cast  on  them  that  they  had 
been  cowardly  enough  to  suffer  injuries  and  let  them 
go  unpunished;  the  reason  is,  that  [in  such  cases]  ambi- 
tion had  no  share,  for  there  is  no  extreme  to  which  their 

pose  to  force  the  captive  to  dishonor  himself  and  his  tribe  by  yielding  to  the 
violence  of  the  tortures,  and  betraying  his  weakness  by  tears  and  groans  un- 
worthy of  a  brave  man.  But  this  refinement  of  vengeance  hardly  ever  attained 
its  object.  Then  — that  is,  when  the  victim  had,  by  his  unshakable  fortitude, 
mocked  the  hopes  of  his  butchers,  they  consoled  themselves  by  devouring  his 
heart  and  drinking  his  blood,  to  the  end  that  they  might  thus  appropriate  to 
themselves  his  invincible  courage,  which  they  were  forced  to  admire.  Besides, 
it  was  this  last  result  which  was  almost  exclusively  sought.  Accordingly, 
only  prisoners  of  distinction  were  subjected  to  these  torments,  since  their 
known  intrepidity  dissipated  even  the  shadow  of  a  doubt  on  this  point.  Cf. 
Simon,  Noticias  historiales  de  la  conquisla  de  Tierra-Firme,  not.  ii,  82,  and 
not.  iv,  315,  322."  -  TAILHAN. 

107  "Wrong ;  there  is  no  temerity  among  them."  —  ANON. 

"It  is  evident  from  the  preceding  note  that  the  valor  of  the  savage  is  some- 
times accompanied  by  a  daring  which  borders  on  temerity;  farther  on  in 
Perrot's  own  account  may  be  seen  instances  of  this  (chap,  xvi)  ;"  see  also  Re- 
lation of  1670,  chap.  vi.  —  TAILHAN. 

los  "Wrong."  -  ANON. 

"I  would  be  quite  inclined  to  think  that  this  time  the  criticism  is  correct." 

_  TAILHAN. 

109  «By  favor  of  the  night  and  of  some  woodland."- ANON. 


i44  NICOLAS   PERROT  [Vol. 

passion  for  it  does  not  carry  them,  even  to  desperation, 
and  to  treachery  in  order  to  take  their  revenge. 

VI.     Among  the  savages,  self-interest  dominates  \_even~\ 
ambition  and  vengeance 

Although  ambition  and  vengeance  are  two  passions 
which  imperiously  possess  the  minds  of  the  savages,  self- 
interest  carries  them  still  further,  and  has  far  more  as- 
cendency over  them.  There  is  no  disgrace  or  injury 
which  they  do  not  overlook  if  those  who  have  insulted 
them  indemnify  them  with  goods  of  sufficient  value.110 
They  will  sell  the  lives  of  their  nearest  relatives,  and  will 
even  consent  to  permit  their  friends  to  be  killed.  They 
will  tolerate  (although  they  are  jealous)  the  prostitu- 
tion of  their  wives,  the  violation  of  their  daughters  and 
their  sisters.  They  will  engage  in  unjust  wars,  and  will 
break  treaties  of  peace  with  [other]  peoples  without 
good  cause.  Self-interest  corrupts  them,  and  renders 
them  capable  of  every  kind  of  evil  deed;  they  make 
it  their  chief  idol,  as  being  that  one  in  which  they  place 
all  their  confidence.111  This  maxim  renders,  in  their 
view,  all  projects  which  they  form  by  it  in  all  cases  glo- 
rious, however  base  and  treacherous  these  may  be ;  and 

no  "Exaggeration."  —  ANON. 

"We  see,  however,  even  here  (page  102),  the  Outaouais  violating,  for  the 
sake  of  wretched  lucre,  the  most  sacred  laws  of  hospitality,  by  delivering  to  the 
Hurons  a  Sioux  chief  who  was  united  to  their  own  chief  by  an  alliance  the  most 
intimate  that  can  exist  between  two  Indians  of  different  tribes.  It  would  seem 
to  me  almost  certain  that  Perrot,  in  drawing  in  his  memoirs  this  portrait  (cer- 
tainly not  a  flattering  one)  of  savages  in  general  had  especially  in  view  the  great 
family  of  the  Illinois.  In  order  to  be  convinced  of  this,  one  has  only  to  compare 
with  the  text  of  our  author  what  Father  Marest  wrote  of  this  same  people  at 
the  same  period  (Lett,  edif.,  vol.  vi,  322).  .  .  In  short,  it  is  evident  that, 
generally  speaking,  the  savages  are  neither  brutes  nor  heroes,  nor  altogether 
men,  but  great  children  —  who  most  often  allow  themselves  to  be  carried  away 
by  the  first  impression,  good  or  bad,  when  self-interest  does  not  decide  them." 

-  TAILHAN. 

111  "Some  are  capable  of  cowardice  of  this  sort,  but  few."  -  ANON. 


one]  MORAL  TRAITS  145 

besides  glorying  in  such  things  they  never  fail  to  ac- 
complish them,  so  far  as  is  within  their  power,  as  will  be 
seen  by  what  follows. 

VII.     Subordination  is  not  a  maxim  among  the  savages 

The  savage  does  not  know  what  it  is  to  obey.  It  is 
more  often  necessary  to  entreat  him  than  to  command 
him ;  he  nevertheless  yields  to  all  demands  made  upon 
him  -  especially  when  he  fancies  that  there  is  either  glory 
or  profit  to  be  expected  therefrom,  and  then  he  comes 
forward  of  his  own  accord  and  offers  his  aid.  The  father 
does  not  venture  to  exercise  authority  over  his  son,  nor 
does  the  chief  dare  to  give  commands  to  his  soldier -he 
will  mildly  entreat;  and  if  any  one  is  stubborn  in  regard 
to  some  [proposed]  movement,  it  is  necessary  to  flatter 
him  in  order  to  dissuade  him,  otherwise  he  will  go 
further  [in  his  opposition].  If  the  chiefs  possess  some 
influence  over  them,  it  is  only  through  the  liberal  pres- 
ents and  the  feasts  which  they  give  to  their  men,  and  here 
is  the  reason  which  induces  them  to  pay  respect  to  their 
chiefs;  for  it  is  characteristic  of  the  savages  always  to 
incline  to  the  side  of  those  who  give  them  most  and  who 
flatter  them  most.112 

112  "Among  the  savages  of  New  France,  the  principle  of  independence  was 
absolute;  and  it  recognized  in  no  authority  the  right  to  impose  limits  on  it 
.  Each  tribe,  and  in  each  tribe  every  village,  and  in  each  village  every  famijyp) 
and  in  each  family  every  individual,  all  considered  themselves  free  to  act  accord- 
ing to  their  own  pleasure,  without  ever  having  to  render  account  to  any  one. 
It  is  equally  correct  to  say  that  £he  Hurons,  the  Iroquois,  and  the  Algonquins 
had  no  government.  Their  chiefs  enjoyed  no  power  except  in  military  and 
hunting  expeditions,  in  which,  moreover,  they  were  followed  only  by  those 
persons  who  were  very  desirous  to  go.  In  all  other  circumstances  their  only 
means  for  securing  obedience  was  persuasion,  and  even  this  method  did  not 
always  succeed.  .  .  If  a  murder  were  committed,  if  a  peace  solemnly 
pledged  with  another  people  were  violated  by  the  caprice  of  a  single  individual, 
the  chiefs  must  not  undertake  to  punish  the  offender  directly;  that  would  have 
been  to  ascribe  to  themselves  a  jurisdiction  over  him  which  they  did  not  even 
dream  of  claiming.  Presents  were  offered  to  the  injured  party,  to  'cover  the 


i46  NICOLAS   PERROT  [Vol. 

XIII.     Continuation  of  the  war  between  the 

Algonkins  and  the  Irroquois,  which 

has  been  carried  on  against 

many  other  tribes 

I  have  made  remarks  on  the  subject  of  the  war  by  the 
Algonkins  against  the  Irroquois,  at  the  beginning  of  this 
memoir;  and  [have  stated]  that  the  Irroquois,  having 
been  compelled  to  abandon  Lake  Erie,  had  retired  to 
Lake  Ontario,  which  at  present  bears  the  name  of  Lake 
Frontenac;  and  that  they  had  always  remained  there  or 
in  its  vicinity,  after  they  had  driven  out  the  Chaoiianons 
and  their  allies  toward  Carolina. 

In  the  raids  which  the  Irroquois  made  in  that  period 
they  carried  away  many  families  from  among  their 
enemies,  and  spared  the  lives  of  the  children,  who  be- 
came, when  grown,  so  many  warriors  in  their  service. 
The  victories  which  they  had  gained  over  those  tribes 
prompted  some  of  the  latter  to  take  revenge  for  the  mur- 
ders which  the  Irroquois  had  committed  on  their  people, 
in  which  they  had  been  too  shamefully  treated.  They 
marched  therefore  against  the  Irroquois  and  routed 
many  of  them,  but  the  latter  soon  avenged  themselves 
for  this,  for,  as  the  Algonkins  had  attacked  them  only 
with  small  parties,  their  defeats  had  not  been  of  great 
importance.113  It  is  certain  that  the  lack  of  subordina- 

dead,'  or  to  restore  the  peace,  and  all  was  said  —  a  custom  which  we  meet  also 
in  the  nations  who  invaded  the  Roman  empire  in  the  fifth  century.  The  greatest 
punishment  that  could  be  inflicted  on  the  guilty  person  was,  not  to  defend  him, 
and  to  allow  those  whom  he  had  injured  freedom  to  take  vengeance  on  him  at 
their  own  risk  and  peril."  See  Relations  — of  1634,  of  1637  (chap,  xiii),  of  1648 
(chap.  x).  "It  was  not  altogether  thus  with  the  tribes  scattered  through  the  val- 
ley of  the  Mississippi.  Among  some  of  these  —  for  example,  the  Miamis  and  the 
Natchez  —  the  chiefs  possessed  far  more  extensive  power,  and  sometimes  even 
unlimited;  but  that  was  only  an  exception.  Cf.  Perrot  (chap,  xx),  Relation  of 
1671  (chap,  iv),  and  Lett.  edif.  (vol.  vii,  9  ff. ) ."  -  TAILHAN. 

us  "This  passage  of  Perrot  is  very  obscure.     As  the  phrases  of  which  it  is 


one]  ALGONQUIAN  AND  IROQUOIS  WAR  147 

tion  which  has  always  prevailed  among  that  [Algonkin] 
people  has  been  a  reason  why  they  have  not  destroyed 
that  of  the  Irroquois;  do  we  not  see  every  day  that  the 
largest  [war-] parties  among  them  will  not  listen  to  any 
commands,  and  that  the  chiefs,  each  giving  orders  ac- 
cording to  his  own  judgment,  cause  their  plans  to  mis- 
carry? 

This  war  lasted  until  the  peace  which  Messieurs 
Tracy  and  de  Courcelles  granted  [1666]  to  the 
when  they  went  to  make  war  on  those  peoples,  whose 
courage  had  terrified  the  Irroquois ; 114  it  was  among  the 
French  that  this  peace  ceased  to  be  permanent,  when 
Monsieur  the  Marquis  [de]  Denonville  marched  [1687] 

composed  can  be  applied  alike  to  the  Iroquois  or  to  the  Algonquins,  they  offer 
only  an  equivocal  and  perplexed  meaning.  Among  all  the  explanations  that 
can  be  furnished,  this  appears  to  me  most  probable:  the  Algonquins  marched 
against  the  Iroquois  parties,  who  had  taken  the  war-path  in  order  to  avenge 
the  murder  of  their  tribesmen,  and  defeated  many  of  them;  but  the  Iroquois  did 
not  delay  in  taking  their  revenge.  Having  been  attacked,  in  the  first  encounters, 
only  by  small  bands  of  Algonquins,  their  defeats  could  not  be  very  bloody  ones, 
and  consequently  could  not  greatly  weaken  them.  Cf.  La  Potherie,  Histoire, 
vol.  i,  293."  —  TAILHAN. 

114  "  'Whose  courage  had  terrified  the  Iroquois.'  Grammatically,  these  words 
can  be  understood  only  of  the  Agniers,  one  of  the  five  confederated  Iroquois 
tribes.  But  then  how  could  the  courage  of  the  Agniers  frighten  the  friends 
and  allies  of  that  warlike  people?  Because  their  courage,  that  is,  their  pre- 
sumptuous audacity  and  their  violence,  imposed  fear  on  the  rest  of  the  confedera- 
tion, and  hindered  the  conclusion  of  the  peace  with  the  French.  This  would 
be  quite  in  accord  with  what  the  Relation  of  1648  (chap,  vii)  states,  of  the  fear 
inspired  by  the  Agniers  in  their  own  countrymen:  'What  has  caused,  it  is  said, 
the  Onnontaeronnon  [the  Iroquois  of  Onnontague;  the  Onondagas]  to  entertain 
thoughts  of  peace  is  ...  secondly,  the  fear  that  they  feel  lest  the  Annieron- 
non  [the  Agniers,  or  Mohawks]  —  who  become  insolent  in  their  victories,  and 
who  render  themselves  insupportable  even  to  their  allies  — may  become  too 
strong,  and  in  time  tyrannize  over  them.'  Perhaps  also  this  member  of  the 
sentence  should  be  referred  to  Messieurs  de  Tracy  and  de  Courcelles,  whose 
courage  frightened  the  Iroquois,  and  constrained  them  to  demand  peace.  It 
would  not  be  the  first  time,  in  this  memoir,  when  the  grammatical  construction 
and  the  author's  meaning  openly  contradicted  each  other,  Perrot,  as  is  known, 
did  not  pride  himself  on  literary  skill ;  he  was  more  practiced  in  affairs  than  in 
rules  of  syntax.  Account  must  also  be  taken  of  the  uncertainty  in  which  we 
remain  over  the  correct  reading  of  a  text  of  which  the  original  is  lost  and  of 
which  but  a  single  copy  remains  to  us."  —  TAILHAN 


i48  NICOLAS   PERROT  [Vol. 

against  the  S[on]nontoans.  However,  Monsieur  de  la 
Barre  afterward  [1684]  led  an  expedition  against  the 
Onontagues,  with  whom  he  concluded  a  peace.11J 

XIV.     Defeat  and  flight  of  the  Hurons, 
driven  out  of  their  own  country 

The  French  having  discovered  this  country  [of  Can- 
ada], the  news  of  their  settlement  [in  it]  spread  from 
tribe  to  tribe.  The  Algonkins  were  living,  as  I  have 
previously  remarked,  along  the  river  of  the  Outaoiias,118 
and  the  Hurons  were  in  their  own  ancient  country.117 
These  latter,  after  having  been  at  war  with  the  Irroquois, 
made  peace  with  them  [1624].  Missionaries  were 
granted  to  a  party  of  them  who  came  [to  the  French  set- 
tlements], and  a  detachment  of  soldiers  to  defend  them 
in  case  they  were  attacked  [1644].  The  Irroquois  stirred 
up  war  against  one  of  the  Huron  villages,  and  laid  it 
waste.  They  maintained  peace  with  another  village  of 
the  same  people,  but  seized  a  third  by  surprise  and 
ruined  it,  as  they  had  the  first.  Those  of  the  Hurons  who 
could  escape  separated ;  some  went  toward  the  Illinois, 
and  the  others  went  down  [the  St.  Lawrence]  to  the 
[French]  colony,  with  the  missionaries  and  the  soldiers 
who  were  compelled  to  abandon  their  stations  [1650- 

i65i]. 

This  defeat  spread  terror  among  the  Outaoiias  and 
their  allies,  who  were  at  Sankinon,  at  Thunder  Bay, 
and  at  Manitoaletz  and  Michillimakinak.  They  went 

us  "Monsieur  de  la  Barre  made  his  expedition  before  Monsieur  Denonville 
had  come  to  this  country;  it  is  Monsieur  de  Callieres  who  concluded  the  peace 
which  Monsieur  Denonville  had  broken."  —  ANON. 

"In  the  detailed  narration  of  these  events  which  we  read  farther  on,  Perrot 
has  restored  the  order  of  the  facts,  here  by  oversight  confused."  —  TAILHAN. 

116  "In  Three  Rivers  and  at  Montreal."  —  ANON. 

117  "Between  Lake  Huron  and  Lake  Ontario."  -  ANON. 


one]     DEFEAT   AND  FLIGHT   OF  THE    HURONS      149 

to  dwell  together  among  the  Hurons,  on  the  island  which 
we  call  Huron  Island.118  The  Irroquois  remained  at 
peace  with  another  village,  established  at  Detroit,  of  sav- 

118  "Huron  Island,  located  at  the  entrance  to  the  Bay  of  Puans,  in  Lake 
Michigan,  now  figures  on  the  American  maps  under  the  name  of  Pottowatomie 
Island  —  and  with  good  reason,  since  the  Pouteouatamis  were  its  first  inhabitants. 
But  at  the  period  when  the  Outaouais  Algonquins  of  Sankinon  and  Anse-au- 
tonnerre  (Saginaw  and  Thunder  Bays,  on  the  western  shore  of  Lake  Huron),  and 
of  Michiilimakinak  and  Manitoaletz  (Mackinaw  and  Manitouline,  two  islands 
in  the  same  lake),  took  refuge  there,  the  Pouteouatamis  had  already  left  it. 
Indeed,  it  is  evident  from  a  comparison  of  Perrot's  narrative  with  that  of  La 
Potherie  that,  on  departing  from  Huron  Island,  the  Algonquins  and  their  allies 
retreated  into  Michigan  (the  present  state  of  Wisconsin  and  northwestern  section 
of  Michigan),  and  settled  among  the  Pouteouatamis,  at  a  day's  journey  (seven 
or  eight  leagues)  from  the  abode  which  their  fear  of  the  Iroquois  forced  them 
to  abandon.  The  Pouteouatamis  welcomed  the  fugitives  with  all  the  more 
kindness  since  they  belonged  to  the  same  race,  speaking  the  same  language,  and 
were  animated  with  the  same  hatred  against  the  Iroquois,  who  in  former  times 
had  driven  them  also  from  their  native  land  —  that  is,  from  the  immense 
peninsula  which  to-day  forms  the  eastern  division  of  Michigan  (Relation  of 
1667,  chap,  ix;  id.  of  1671,  third  part,  and  chap.  v).  This  first  migration  of 
the  Pouteouatamis  must  have  been  made  about  1636  at  latest,  for  after  1637  or 
1638  we  find  them  established  in  the  neighborhood  of  the  Puans,  and  consequently 
near  the  bay  to  which  the  latter  tribe  gave  their  name  (Relation  of  1640,  chap. 
x).  In  the  course  of  the  following  years  they  spread  along  the  shores  of  that 
same  bay,  the  inner  end  of  which  they  were  occupying  in  1671  (Relation  of 
1671,  ut  supra),  having  also  again  taken  possession  of  Huron  Island,  and  some 
of  their  bands  being  dispersed  over  the  neighboring  mainland,  at  the  entrance 
of  the  bay.  At  least  this  is  what  Father  Allouez  seems  to  indicate  when,  on 
the  one  hand,  he  places  the  country  of  the  Pouteouatamis  in  the  Lake  of  the 
Illinois  or  Lake  Michigan  (Relation  of  1667,  chap,  ix),  which  is  literally  true 
of  Huron  Island  only;  and,  on  the  other,  he  mentions  a  village  of  that  same 
people  situated  on  one  of  the  shores  of  the  bay,  eight  leagues  from  an  Ousaki 
village  built  on  the  opposite  shore  (Relation  of  1670,  chap.  xii).  Now  the  bay 
is  no  wider  than  its  entrance  (Marquette,  Recit  des  voyages,  chap.  5).  War- 
riors, hunters,  and  fishers,  the  Pouteouatamis  were  of  all  the  western  savages 
the  most  docile,  and  the  most  friendly  to  the  French.  Their  natural  politeness 
and  their  kind  attentions  extended  even  to  strangers,  which  is  very  rare  among 
those  peoples  (Relation  of  1667,  ut  supra).  Finally  (and  this  is  the  most  com- 
plete encomium  on  their  energetic  vitality),  they  have  thus  far  resisted  the 
method,  as  efficacious  as  hypocritical,  which  the  Anglo-Saxon  race  has  so  pro- 
fitably employed  to  rid  itself  of  so  many  other  tribes.  They  have  been  poisoned 
with  rum  and  brandy;  fraudulent  treaties  have  been  imposed  on  them,  by 
threats  or  by  misrepresentations,  which  despoiled  them  of  their  territory,  almost 
without  compensation.  Thus  they  have  been  driven  back  from  one  region  to 
another,  [till  they  are]  far  beyond  the  Mississippi,  in  a  corner  of  Kansas,  from 


i5o  NICOLAS   PERROT  [Vol. 

ages  who  were  called  "Neutral  Hurons,"  because  they 
did  not  embrace  the  interests  of  their  allies,  but  main- 
tained an  attitude  of  neutrality.  The  Irroquois,  how- 
ever, compelled  these  people  to  abandon  Detroit  and 
settle  in  the  Irroquois  country.  Thus  they  augmented 
their  own  strength,  not  only  by  the  many  children  whom 
they  took  captive,  but  by  the  great  number  of  Neutral 
Hurons  whom  they  carried  to  their  own  country;  and  it 
was  at  that  time  that  they  made  so  many  raids  against 
the  Algonkins  that  the  latter  were  compelled  to  seek 
shelter  among  the  French  of  the  [Canadian]  colony. 
The  Nipissings  made  a  stand  in  their  villages  during 
several  years ;  but  they  were  finally  obliged  to  flee  far 

which  the  flood  of  invaders  will,  without  doubt,  again  drive  them;  but  all  has 
been  useless,  and  they  obstinately  persist  in  living.  A  day  will  come,  however, 
when  they,  [with  patience]  worn  out  by  so  many  injustices  and  outrages,  will 
endeavor  to  take  in  their  own  way  a  revenge  too  well  deserved ;  then  all  will 
be  ended.  On  these  incorrigible  Redskins,  bold  enough  to  scalp  some  of  the 
Pale-faces  who  have  so  long  oppressed,  plundered,  or  even  murdered  them,  will 
be  let  loose  five  or  six  thousand  militiamen,  and  a  "heroic"  general  who  has  to 
repair  his  reputation;  grape-shot  will  be  poured  on  them  without  pity,  and 
those  whom  the  cannon  shall  have  spared  will  be  hanged  by  way  of  an  ex- 
ample. [If  you  doubt  this]  inquire  first  for  the  tribes  of  Oregon,  or  the  Sioux 
of  Minnesota."  —  TAILHAN. 

See  description  of  the  Bay  of  Puans  (Baie  Verte,  or  Green  Bay)  and  its 
apparent  tides,  in  Marquette's  Recit  des  voyages  (chap,  i),  and  an  account  of 
Father  Andre's  observations  thereon  in  Relation  of  1676.  "Some  recent  observa- 
tions have  confirmed  the  truth  of  all  that  precedes.  In  fact,  see  what  I  find  in 
the  Correspondant  of  October,  1862  (vol.  Ivii  of  the  collection,  p.  257,  note  2) : 
'Mr.  Graham  has  just  verified  the  fact  of  lunar  tides  in  Lake  Michigan,  in 
America.' "  -  TAILHAN. 

In  1849  Increase  A.  Lapham  made  observations  which  indicated  regular  tides 
in  Lake  Michigan,  apparently  the  first  scientific  discovery  of  this  phenomenon. 
(See  G.  G.  Meade's  Report  of  Survey  of  Northern  Lakes,  1861,  pp.  313,  361.) 
This  matter  again  received  attention  in  1871,  observations  being  made  at  Mil- 
waukee which  showed  semi-diurnal  tides  at  that  point  — solar  of  4/100  and 
lunar  of  8/ico  of  a  foot.  At  the  same  time  was  investigated  the  phenomenon 
of  irregular  oscillations  (or  seiches)  in  the  surface-level;  these  appeared  to  be 
caused  by  "oscillations  of  the  barometer,  either  local  or  general,  and  by  the 
accompanying  winds,  periodicity  arising  in  some  cases  by  reflection  from  an 
opposite  shore."  (See  detailed  account  by  C.  B.  Comstock  in  id.,  1872,  pp. 
7-16).- ED. 


one]     DEFEAT   AND  FLIGHT   OF   THE    HURONS       151 

northward  to  Alimibegon  [Nepigon]  ;  and  the  savages 
who  had  been  neighbors  to  the  Hurons  fled,  with  those 
along  the  Outaoiias  River,  to  Three  Rivers. 

The  Irroquois,  elated  by  the  advantage  which  they 
had  gained  over  their  enemies  in  thus  compelling  them 
to  take  flight,  and  finding  no  other  bones  to  gnaw,  made 
several  attacks  upon  the  Algonkins  and  even  upon  the 
French,  taking  several  captives  who  were  afterward  re- 
stored to  their  homes.  That  was  succeeded  by  more  than 
one  treaty  of  peace,  which  proved  to  be  of  short  duration. 
The  early  relations  of  these  events  describe  them  quite 
fully;  accordingly  I  do  not  expatiate  upon  them  here, 
but  limit  myself  to  an  account  of  only  such  things  as  they 
have  omitted,  and  which  I  have  learned  from  the  lips  of 
the  old  men  among  the  Outaoiia  tribes. 

The  following  year  [1653],  the  Irroquois  sent  an- 
other expedition,  which  counted  800  men,  to  attack  the 
Outaoiias ;  but  those  tribes,  feeling  sure  that  the  enemy 
had  ascertained  the  place  where  they  had  established 
themselves,  and  would  certainly  make  another  attack 
against  them,  had  taken  the  precaution  to  send  out  one  of 
their  scouting  parties,  who  went  as  far  as  the  former 
country  of  the  Hurons,  from  which  they  had  been  driv- 
en. These  men  descried  the  Irroquois  party  who  were 
marching  against  them,  and  hastened  back  to  carry  the 
news  of  this  incursion  to  their  own  people  at  that  [Hu- 
ron] Island.  They  immediately  abandoned  that  place 
and  retreated  to  Mechingan,  where  they  constructed  a 
fort,  resolving  to  await  there  the  enemy.  The  Irroquois 
[came  to  that  region,  but]  were  unable  to  accomplish 
anything  during  the  first  two  years.  They  made  further 
efforts  to  succeed,  and  put  in  the  field  a  little  army,  as  it 
were,  intending  to  destroy  the  villages  of  that  new  set- 
tlement, at  which  a  considerable  extent  of  land  had  been 


1 52  NICOLAS   PERROT  [Vol. 

already  cleared.  But  the  Outaoiias  had  time  enough  to 
harvest  their  grain  before  the  arrival  of  the  enemy;  for 
they  were  always  careful  to  keep  scouts  on  the  watch,  in 
order  not  to  be  taken  by  surprise,  and  the  scouts  saw  the 
enemy  in  time.  The  Irroquois  finally  arrived  one  morn- 
ing before  the  fort,  which  appeared  to  them  impreg- 
nable. In  their  army  were  many  Hurons  who  were  the 
offspring  of  the  people  whom  they  had  come  to  attack  - 
men  whose  mothers  had  escaped  from  the  ruin  of  their 
tribe  when  the  Irroquois  had  invaded  their  former  coun- 
try. The  enemy  had  at  the  time  not  much  food,  because 
they  found  very  little  game  on  the  route  which  they  had 
thus  far  followed.  Deliberations  were  held,  and  propo- 
sitions for  a  treaty  of  peace  were  made.  One  of  these 
was  that  the  Hurons  who  were  in  the  Irroquois  army 
should  be  given  up,  which  was  heeded  and  granted.  In 
order  to  settle  upon  the  terms  of  the  treaty,  it  was  agreed 
that  six  of  their  chiefs  should  enter  the  fort  of  the  Hu- 
rons, and  that  the  latter  should,  in  exchange,  give  six  of 
their  men  as  hostages.  A  treaty  of  peace  was  accordingly 
made  and  concluded  between  them.  The  Outaoiias  and 
Hurons  made  presents  of  food  to  the  Irroquois,  and  also 
traded  with  them  for  blankets  and  porcelain  collars.119 
The  latter  remained  in  camp  for  several  days  to  rest  their 
warriors,  but  when  they  entered  the  fort  only  a  few  at  a 
time  were  admitted,  and  these  were  drawn  by  the  Outa- 
oiias over  the  palisades  by  ropes. 

The  Outaoiias  sent  word  to  the  Irroquois  army  before 
their  departure  that  they  wished  to  present  to  each  of 
their  men  a  loaf  of  corn-bread;  but  they  prepared  a 
poison  to  mix  with  the  bread.  When  the  loaves  were 
baked,  they  were  sent  to  the  Irroquois;  but  a  Huron 

119  "Porcelain"  was  the  Canadian-French  term  for  the  shell,  glass,  or  porce- 
lain beads  used  as  money  and  ornaments  by  the  Indians  —  the  "wampum"  of 
English  writers.  —  ED. 


one]     DEFEAT   AND  FLIGHT   OF   THE    HURONS       153 

woman  who  had  an  Irroquois  husband  knew  the  secret, 
and  warned  her  son  not  to  eat  any  of  the  bread,  because 
it  had  been  poisoned.  The  son  immediately  informed 
the  Irroquois  of  this ;  they  threw  the  bread  to  their  dogs, 
who  died  after  eating  it.  They  needed  no  more  to  assure 
them  of  the  conspiracy  against  them,  and  determined  to 
go  away  without  provisions.  They  concluded  to  divide 
their  forces  into  two  parties ;  one  of  these  embarked  from 
that  place,120  and  were  defeated  by  the  Saulteurs,  Mis- 
sisakis,  and  people  of  the  Otter  tribe  (who  are  called  in 
their  own  tongue  Mikikoiiet)  ,121  but  few  of  the  Irroquois 
escaping.  The  main  force  pushed  farther  on,  and  soon 

120  "Our  manuscript  here  presents  a  gap  which  I  do  not  attempt  to  fill.     I 
thought  at  first  that  I  could  do  so,  by  reading  this  passage  thus:     \Dont  I'un 
relascha  de  I'autre  cote  du  lac~\  ;  but  the  space  left  blank  by  the  copyist  is  so 
small   that  it  deprives  of   all   probability  this   attempt   at   restoring  the   text. 
What  is  certain  is,  that  of  the  two  Iroquois  parties  one  returned  on  their  march, 
and,  crossing  the  Bay  of  Puans  and  the  lake  of  the  Illinois,  took  the  road  to 
their  own  country,  going  along  the  shores  of  Lake  Huron  (where  they  were  sur- 
prised and  defeated  by  the  Saulteurs,  Mississakis,  and  Mikikouets)  ;  the  other 
pushed  farther  on,  toward  the  southwest,  and  penetrated  as  far  as  the  territory 
of  the  Illinois,  where  they  too  were  entirely  routed.     This  conclusion  is  reached 
by  comparing  the  narratives  of  Perrot  and  La  Potherie  (Histoire,  vol.  ii,  54). 
We  note,  however,  that  this  latter  writer,  by  an  evident  guiproquo,  makes  those 
of  the  Iroquois  go  to  the  Illinois  whose  route,  after  their  departure  from  the 
country  of  the  Pouteouatamis,  followed  the  shores  of  Lake  Huron  — which  is 
absurd ;  for,  in  order  to  reach  Lake  Huron  from  Michigan,  they  must  of  necessity 
have  turned  their  backs  on  the  Illinois,  and  on  the  vast  prairies  where,  it  is 
claimed,  they  had  encountered  that  people."  —  TAILHAN. 

121  "It  has  been  previously  seen  (chap,  xi,  note  [80])  that  the  Sauteurs,  or 
Chippewais,  who  in  former  times  inhabited  that  portion  of  western  Michigan 
which  is  bathed  by  the  waters  of  the  three  lakes  —  Michigan,   Superior,  and 
Huron  — have  almost  entirely  abandoned  it.     Part  of  them  were  obliged,  several 
years  ago,  to  migrate,  whether  they  would  or  no,  beyond  the  Mississippi;  others 
now  reside  on  the  great  island  of  Manitouline;  and  some  have  not  yet  been  able 
to  resign  themselves  to  leaving  their  ancient  territory  (Annales  de  la  propaga- 
tion de  la  Foi,  vol.  vi,  69).     The  Mississakis   had   their  settlements  on   the 
northern  shore  of  Lake  Huron,  not  far  from  Manitouline  Island   (Relation  of 
1648,  chap,  x;  id.  of  1671,  third  part,  and  chap,  ii;  La  Potherie,  Histoire,  vol.  ii, 
60).     About  1720,  some  of  their  families  resided  at  Fort  Frontenac;  their  vil- 
lages were  also  found  on  the  western  shore  of  Lake  Ontario,  at  Niagara,  and 
at  Detroit  (Charlevoix,  Histoire,  vol.  iii,  195).     Beyond  this  I  have  nothing  more 
to  say  of  the  Mississakis,  save  that  'this  people,  besides  the  multiplicity  of  wives 


154  NICOLAS   PERROT  [Vol. 

found  themselves  among  the  buffaloes.  If  the  Outaoiias 
had  been  as  courageous  as  the  Hurons,  and  had  pursued 
the  enemy,  they  could  without  doubt  have  defeated 
them,  considering  their  slender  supply  of  food.  But  the 
Irroquois,  when  they  had  secured  abundance  of  provi- 
sions, steadily  advanced  until  they  encountered  a  small 

Illinoet  village ; 122  they  killed  the  women  and  children 

^      ^^^^—^^^^— 

and  the  superstitions  which  are  common  to  them  and  to  the  other  savages,  are 
the  boldest  and  most  arrogant  of  all  those  around  us'  (Relation  of  1673,  chap.  ii). 
Of  the  Mikikoues  (or  Otter  People)  no  other  mention  is  made  of  them,  either 
in  Perrot  or  anywhere  else.  The  old  Relations,  in  especial,  say  not  a  word  of 
this  tribe.  Perhaps  some  error  has  slipped  into  our  manuscript,  and  the  copyist 
h  *  .,  if  f  may  have  written  Mikikoues  instead  of  Nikikoues  —  an  Algonquin  tribe,  who 
vV  •  dwelt  on  the  north  shore  of  Lake  Huron,  between  the  Mississakis  and  the 
V 


.^ 


Amikoues  (Relation  of  1648,  chap,  x;  Id.  of  1658,  chap.  v).  Father  Beschefer, 
too,  associates  the  Nikikoues  with  the  two  other  peoples  whom  I  have  just  named 
(unpublished  Relation  of  1682).  It  is  quite  surprising  that  Perrot  does  not 
mention  the  Amikoues  in  his  narrative,  since,  according  to  the  Relation  of  1671 
(chap,  ii)  it  was  their  chief  who  took  the  principal  part  in  the  victory  obtained 
by  the  Sauteurs,  the  Mississakis,  and  the  Otter  People  over  the  Iroquois  who 
were  returning  to  their  own  country  after  their  unsuccessful  expedition  to  the 
Pouteouatami  country.  We  likewise  read  there  that  these  Iroquois  were  de- 
feated on  the  lands  of  these  very  Amikoues,  and  that  but  one  of  them  escaped 
out  of  one  hundred  and  twenty.  This  exploit  brought  such  glory  to  that  chief 
that,  three  years  after  his  death,  when  his  son  desired  to  honor  his  memory  by 
reviving  his  name,  more  than  sixteen  hundred  warriors  from  all  the  neighboring 
tribes  responded  to  the  son's  appeal,  and  assisted  at  the  feasts  celebrated  on  this 
occasion  (Relation  of  1671,  ut  supra)"  —  TAILHAN. 

122  Here  the  text  reads  brigade  ;  but  it  must  be  an  error  for  bourgade,  since 
La  Potherie  (Histoire,  vol.  ii,  55)  mentions  it  as  un  petit  village  d'lllinois. 

—  TAILHAN. 

"The  Illinois  [a  name  with  many  variants  ;  signifying  "the  men"]  were  still, 
at  this  epoch,  one  of  the  most  powerful  peoples  in  New  France.  Their  sixty 
villages  contained  twenty  thousand  warriors,  and  from  one  hundred  to  one 
hundred  and  twenty  thousand  inhabitants  —  not  including  the  Miamis,  who  could 
furnish  a  quota  of  eight  thousand  warriors  (Relation  of  1658,  chap,  v;  id.  of 
1660,  chap.  iii).  But  from  1667  all  was  quite  changed;  those  numerous  and 
flourishing  villages,  dispeopled  by  war,  had  been  reduced  at  first  to  ten,  then 
to  two  (Relation  of  1667,  chap,  xi;  id.  of  1670,  chap,  xi)  —or  to  eight,  according 
to  another  Relation  (that  of  1671,  third  part)  —which  counted  no  more  than 
eight  or  nine  thousand  inhabitants  (Relation  of  1670,  ut  supra}.  They  spoke  a 
dialect  of  the  Algonquin  language,  very  different  from  the  mother-tongue  —  but 
not  so  much  so  that  the  Illinois  and  the  Algonquins  could  not,  with  a  little 
practice,  understand  each  other  (Relation  of  1667,  chap,  xi;  Voyage  of  Father 
Marquette).  This  great  and  powerful  nation  was  subdivided  into  a  certain 


one]     DEFEAT   AND  FLIGHT   OF   THE    HURONS       155 

therein,  for  the  men  fled  toward  their  own  people,  who 
were  not  very  far  from  that  place.    The  Illinoets  imme- 

number  of  tribes;  here  are  the  names  of  some  among  them:"  the  Kikabous,  or  ' 
Kikapous;  the  Kaskaskias;  the  Kaokia;  the  Tamarois,  or  Tamarohas;  the  j^*.1^^ 
Kouivakouintanouas ;  the  Negaouichiriniouek  (the  Negaouich  Illinois?),  neigh- 
bors of  the  Pouteouatamis;  the  Peorias;  the  Moiiingoiiena;  the  Mitchigamias, 
who  of  all  the  Illinois  were  the  most  distant  toward  the  south ;  the  Kitchigamich, 
or  Ketchegamins,  "who  spoke  the  same  language  as  the  Kikapou  Illinois,  and 
therefore  with  some  probability  can  be  regarded  as  belonging  to  the  same 
stock;"  the  Maskoutens,  or  Fire  People,  classed  among  the  Illinois  for  the  same 
reason;  the  Miamis,  or  Oumiamis  (the  Algonquin  prefix  ou  being  equivalent 
to  our  article),  composed  of  several  distinct  peoples.  See  various  references 
to  these  peoples  and  tribes  in  the  Jesuit  Relations ;  also  in  Charlevoix's  Histoire, 
vol.  ii,  484,  and  vol.  iii,  188,  392;  La  Potherie's  Histoire,  vol.  ii,  261;  and 
Annales  de  la  propagation  de  la  Foi,  vol.  x,  137,  138.  "The  Illinois  extended 
their  raids  and  their  hunting  over  an  immense  territory,  of  which  the  present 
state  of  Illinois  represents  only  a  part;"  it  extended  from  the  Fox  River  of 
Wisconsin  and  Lake  Michigan  to  the  Miami  and  the  Ohio  Rivers,  and  westward 
to  the  Mississippi,  which  they  occupied  from  the  thirty-third  to  the  fortieth 
parallel  (Marquette).  "But  these  limits  were  never  closely  drawn;  they  varied, 
to  the  east  and  especially  the  west,  at  the  dictation  of  events  (see  Relation  of 
1671,  third  part)."  It  was  the  Sioux  (or  Nadouessi)  "whose  continual  hos- 
tilities seem  to  have  forced  the  Illinois  to  their  first  migration  toward  Lake 
Michigan  (see  Relation  of  1667,  chap,  xi)." 

The  war  between  the  Iroquois  and  the  Illinois  (1656-1667)  brought  on  the 
ruin  of  the  latter  people,  and  those  who  escaped  took  refuge  beyond  the  Mis- 
sissippi. Later  (1666)  the  peace  imposed  on  the  Iroquois  by  the  power  of 
France  reopened  to  the  Illinois  the  doors  of  their  own  country;  but  many  of 
them  did  not  profit  by  the  opportunity  which  was  offered  to  them,  or  did  so 
quite  late.  In  1674  there  were,  as  yet,  on  the  banks  of  the  river  of  the  Illinois, 
only  the  single  tribe  of  Kaskaskias;  they  numbered  seventy-four  lodges  and 
nearly  three  thousand  souls  (Marquette,  Voyages).  Seven  other  tribes  rejoined 
the  first  one  in  1676,  and  formed  with  it  a  village  of  three  hundred  and  fifty 
lodges,  which  contained  at  least  eleven  thousand  inhabitants  (ibid.)  ;  for  among 
the  Illinois  four  or  five  fires  were  combined  in  each  lodge,  and  each  fire  was 
always  for  two  families  (Lett,  edif.,  vol.  vi,  175).  Toward  1693  or  1694  the 
Illinois  people  were  divided  among  eleven  villages,  of  which  one  alone  contained 
three  hundred  cabins  or  twelve  hundred  fires  (ibid.)  ;  but  from  1712  these  vil- 
lages were  reduced  to  three,  situated  at  immense  distances  from  one  another,  in 
a  territory  of  two  thousand  square  leagues  (id.,  325,  328).  To-day  one  would 
seek  in  vain  for  a  single  Illinois  savage  in  the  greater  part  of  those  vast  regions. 
By  a  cleverly  combined  mingling  of  violence  and  fraud  the  United  States  has 
taken  possession  of  that  territory,  and  brutally  expelled  from  it  its  ancient 
owners  (Letter  of  Father  Thebaud,  in  Annales  de  la  propagation  de  la  Foi, 
vol.  xvi,  450).  Here  again  the  Anglo-Americans  have  done  what,  according 
to  the  testimony  of  the  missionaries,  they  do  everywhere  else ;  after  having  de- 
moralized the  savage,  and  deprived  him  of  his  possessions,  they  have  driven 


156  NICOLAS   PERROT  [Vol. 

diately  assembled  their  forces,  and  hastened  after  the 
Irroquois,  who  had  no  suspicion  of  an  enemy;  overtak- 
ing the  enemy  at  nightfall,  the  Illinoets  later  attacked 
them,  and  slew  many  of  them.  Other  Illinoet  villages, 
who  were  hunting  at  various  places  in  that  vicinity,  hav- 
ing learned  what  had  occurred,  hastened  to  find  their 
tribesmen,  who  had  just  dealt  a  blow  at  the  Irroquois. 

him  from  his  native  land  as  if  he  were  a  wild  beast  (Missions  du  diocese  de 
Quebec,  no.  xii,  70,  1859).  I  have  previously  cited  the  somewhat  unfavorable 
judgment  pronounced  over  our  savages  by  one  of  their  most  zealous  missionaries 
[Father  Marest;  see  reference  in  note  no];  it  is  therefore  my  duty,  in  strict 
justice,  to  acknowledge  here  that  their  first  apostles  paint  them  in  more  flattering 
colors"  (see  mention  of  the  traits  of  the  Illinois  in  Relation  of  1667,  chap,  xii; 
id.  of  1671,  chap,  iv;  Marquette's  Voyages}.  In  attempting  to  reconcile  these 
varying  opinions,  we  must  "take  into  account  the  demoralization  produced 
among  these  Indians,  in  half  a  century,  by  their  relations  with  the  Europeans 
and  by  the  trade  in  brandy ;  and,  in  the  lavish  praises  of  the  Illinois  by  Fathers 
Allouez  and  Marquette,  must  make  allowance  for  the  illusions  of  that  charity 
which  believeth  all  things,  hopeth  all  things,  and  thinketh  no  evil,  until  the 
last  extremity.  One  finds,  nevertheless,  in  the  relation  of  the  second  of  these 
missionaries  an  indication,  unfortunately  too  clear,  of  the  immorality  with  which 
our  Illinois  were  later  reproached.  To  be  convinced  of  this,  it  is  sufficient  to 
compare  the  'mystery'  described  by  Father  Marquette  (Foyages)  with  what  is 
related  of  an  identical  custom,  in  vogue  among  other  savage  peoples,  by  many 
historians,  both  Spanish  and  French.  .  .  But  these  moral  infirmities  of  the 
Illinois,  even  as  great  ones  as  are  supposed,  ought  not  to  make  us  Frenchmen 
forget  the  invariable  fidelity  of  these  savages  to  our  country.  Entering  their 
hearts  at  the  same  time  as  did  the  Catholic  faith,  this  devotion  to  France  never 
once  deviated,  from  the  end  of  the  seventeenth  century  to  the  treaty  of  Paris 
(J763),  which  handed  over  our  North  American  colonies  to  England.  When  our 
cause  was  hopelessly  lost,  and  when,  in  execution  of  this  shameful  treaty,  the 
English  commissary  presented  himself  (1765)  to  take  possession  of  Fort  Chartres 
and  the  country  of  the  Illinois,  those  Indians  could  not  resign  themselves  to  this 
peace  and  this  change  [of  rulers].  The  chief  of  the  Kaskaskias,  speaking  in  his 
own  name,  and  in  that  of  the  Missourites  and  the  Osages,  his  allies,  declared 
to  the  French  commandant  that  in  all  their  tribes  there  was  not  one  man  who 
willingly  submitted  to  it"  (See  his  speech  in  Bancroft's  History  of  the  United 
States,  vol.  iv,  chap,  xviii.)  "Indeed,  it  was  these  faithful  and  devoted  allies 
who,  two  years  before,  had  sorrowfully  repeated  to  the  commandant  of  Fort 
Chartres,  'Father,  do  not  abandon  thy  children;  not  one  Englishman  will  pene- 
trate as  far  as  this  while  the  red  man  lives.  .  .  Our  hearts  are  with  the 
French;  we  detest  the  English,  and  we  will  kill  them  all'  (id.,  chap.  vii). 
Would  not  one  say  that  a  secret  presentiment  made  them  recognize  in  these 
newcomers  the  approaching  authors  of  their  final  and  irreparable  ruin?" 

-  TAILHAN. 


one]    FLIGHT  OF  THE  HURONS  AND  OUTAOUAS     157 

Assembling  all  their  warriors,  they  encouraged  one  an- 
other, made  a  hasty  march,  surprised  the  enemy,  and 
utterly  defeated  them  in  battle ;  for  there  were  very  few 
of  the  Irroquois  who  returned  to  their  own  villages. 
This  was  the  first  acquaintance  of  the  Illinoets  with  the 
Irroquois ;  it  proved  baneful  to  them,  but  they  have  well 
avenged  themselves  for  it. 

XV.     Flight  of  the  Hurons  and  Outaoiias 
into  the  Micissypy  region 

In  the  following  year  [1656]  the  Outaoiias  descended 
in  a  body  to  Three  Rivers.  Missionaries  were  allotted 
to  them :  the  Hurons  had  Father  Garot,  and  the  Outa- 
oiias had  Father  Mesnard,  with  five  Frenchmen  who  ac- 
companied them.  Father  Garot  was  slain  by  the  war- 
party  of  the  Flemish  Bastard,123  who  had  embarked  with 
the  Hurons  on  the  Lake  of  Two  Mountains,  where  he 
had  caused  a  fort  to  be  built;  but,  having  allowed  the 
main  body  of  the  Outaoiias  and  Saulteurs  (who  were 
much  better  canoemen  than  the  Hurons)  to  go  ahead,  the 
Irroquois  came  up  with  them,  although  [they  had 

123  "Perrot  is  mistaken;  Father  Mesnard  did  not  go  among  the  Outaouais 
until  1660.  Father  Garreau  had  for  a  companion  in  1656  Father  Dreuillette; 
and  the  latter,  after  the  catastrophe  on  the  Lake  of  Two  Mountains,  seeing 
himself  abandoned  by  the  savages,  returned  to  the  Colony  with  the  few  French- 
men who  had  followed  him  (Relation  of  1656,  chap,  xv)."  Some  oversight  of 
the  copyist  has  misplaced  the  parts  of  this  sentence;  but  the  facts  of  the  case 
render  the  sense  plain,  that  Father  Garreau  had  embarked  with  the  Hurons, 
and  that  he  was  slain  by  the  band  of  the  Flemish  Bastard,  who  had  built  the 
fort.  That  noted  chief  "was  son  of  a  Hollander  and  an  Iroquois  woman.  The 
tribe  of  Agniers,  to  whom  he  belonged  through  his  mother,  chose  him  for  one 
of  their  chiefs.  The  .Lake  of  Two  Mountains  is  formed  by  an  expansion  of  the 
Outaouais  River,  near  its  discharge  into  the  Saint  Lawrence.  North  of  this 
lake  extends  the  seigniory  of  the  same  name,  belonging  to  the  [Sulpitian]  semi- 
nary of  Montreal.  It  is  in  this  seigniory  that  the  gentlemen  of  Saint  Sulpice 
established,  near  the  beginning  of  the  last  [i.e.,  the  seventeenth]  century,  two 
villages  of  Christian  Iroquois  and  Algonquins,  which  still  exist  to-day,  and 
count  a  thousand  inhabitants."  —  TAILHAN. 


i58  NICOLAS   PERROT  [Vol. 

started]  far  behind  the  Hurons,  defeated  them,  and  took 
many  of  them  captive.  The  Irroquois  and  the  French 
were  then  at  peace.  The  Flemish  Bastard  had  the  body 
of  the  father  conveyed  to  Montreal,  which  at  that  time 
was  already  founded  [in  1642].  As  soon  as  he  had  ar- 
rived he  was  asked  why  he  had  fired  on  the  father,  but 
replied  that  neither  he  nor  his  people  had  killed  him. 
He  said  that  the  murderer  was  a  Frenchman,  who,  hav- 
ing deserted  from  Montreal,  had  come  to  join  the  Bas- 
tard's party  at  the  time  when  he  went  to  lay  ambuscades 
for  the  Outaoiias,  who  intended  to  ascend  the  River  des 
Prairies.  This  Frenchman  was  handed  over  to  the  gov- 
ernor and  shot  to  death,  for  lack  of  an  executioner.12* 

The  Flemish  Bastard  brought  many  Huron  prisoners, 
whom  he  tortured  by  burning  their  fingers,  without  any 
opposition  from  the  side  of  the  French;  and  when  he 
returned  to  his  own  village  he  spared  their  lives.  They 
will  never  forget  the  manner  in  which,  on  that  occasion, 
we  abandoned  them  to  the  mercy  of  their  enemies.  They 
also  will  remember  forever  how  little  effort  the  French 
made  to  oppose  the  Irroquois  when  the  latter,  in  time  of 
peace  [May,  1656],  carried  away  the  Hurons  who  dwelt 
on  Orleans  Island,  and  made  them  pass  in  canoes  before 
Quebec  and  Three  Rivers,  meanwhile  [compelling 
them]  to  sing,  in  order  to  increase  their  mortification. 
But  in  revenge  the  Outaoiias  have  since  then  sought 
every  opportunity  to  betray  the  French,  although  they 
pretend  to  be  our  devoted  friends ;  they  treat  the  French 

124  Perrot  is  the  only  one  among  the  early  chroniclers  of  events  in  New 
France  who  has  placed  on  a  Frenchman  the  guilt  of  having  slain  Father  Gar- 
reau ;  those  writers  evidently  suppressed  this  fact,  so  discreditable  for  any 
Frenchman.  But  this  murderer  is  probably  the  man  mentioned  in  the  Relation 
of  1656  (chap,  xvi)  as  a  French  renegade  who  had  joined  the  Iroquois,  and 
who  by  a  curious  retribution  of  fate  was  led,  by  the  dying  missionary  himself,  to 
repent  of  his  errors;  he  was  afterward  betrayed  to  the  French  by  an  Iroquois, 
taken  to  Quebec,  and  executed  by  the  authorities.  —  TAILHAN. 


one]    FLIGHT  OF  THE  HURONS  AND  OUTAOUAS      159 

thus  through  policy  and  fear,  for  they  do  not  trust  any 
people,  as  will  be  more  fully  shown  in  the  conclusion 
of  this  memoir. 

When  all  the  Outaoiias  were  dispersed  toward  the 
[great]  lakes,  the  Saulteurs  and  the  Missisakis  fled 
northward,  and  finally  to  Kionconan  [i.e.,  Keweenaw], 
for  lack  of  game.  Then  the  Outaoiias,  fearing  that  they 
were  not  strong  enough  to  repel  the  incursions  of  the 
Irroquois,  who  had  gained  information  of  the  place  in 
which  the  former  had  established  themselves,  sought 
refuge  in  the  Micissypy  region,  which  is  now  called 
Loiiisianna.  They  ascended  that  river  to  a  place  about 
twelve  leagues  from  the  Ouisconching,  where  they  came 
to  another  river,  which  is  named  for  the  Ayoes  [lowas]. 
They  followed  this  stream  to  its  source,  and  there  en- 
countered peoples  who  received  them  cordially.  But  as 
they  did  not  find,  in  all  that  region  which  they  traversed, 
any  place  suitable  for  a  settlement  -  since  the  country  was 
entirely  destitute  of  woods,  and  contained  only  prairies 
and  level  plains,  although  buffaloes  and  other  animals 
were  found  there  in  abundance -they  retraced  the  same 
route  by  which  they  had  come;  and,  having  again 
reached  the  shores  of  the  Loiiisianna  River,  they  contin- 
ued to  ascend  it.  Before  they  had  gone  far,  they  dis- 
persed in  various  directions  to  pursue  the  chase;  I  will 
mention  only  one  of  their  bands,  whom  the  Scioux  en- 
countered, captured,  and  carried  away  to  their  villages. 
The  Scioux,  who  had  no  acquaintance  with  the  firearms 
and  other  implements  which  they  saw  among  the 
strangers -for  they  themselves  use  only  knives  and 
hatchets  of  stone  and  flint123- hoped  that  these  new 
peoples  who  had  come  near  them  would  share  with  them 

125  In  the  text,  de  cousteaux  de  pierre  de  moulange,  de  hackes  et  de  cailloux; 
this  last  phrase  should  probably  read,  et  de  haches  de  caillou,  as  indicating  the 


160  NICOLAS   PERROT  [Vol. 

the  commodities  which  they  possessed;  and,  believing 
that  the  latter  were  spirits,  because  they  were  acquainted 
with  the  use  of  iron -an  article  which  was  utterly  unlike 
the  stone  and  other  things  which  they  used -conducted 
them,  as  I  have  said,  to  their  own  villages,  and  delivered 
the  prisoners  to  their  own  people. 

The  Outaoiias  and  Hurons  gave  the  Scioux,  in  turn,  a 
friendly  reception,  but  did  not  make  them  presents  of 
much  value.  The  Scioux  returned  to  their  own  country, 
with  some  small  articles  which  they  had  received  from 
the  Outaoiias,  and  shared  these  with  their  allies  in  other 
villages,  giving  to  some  hatchets,  and  to  others  knives  or 
awls.  All  those  villages  sent  deputies  to  those  of  the 
Outaoiias;  as  soon  as  they  arrived  there,  they  began,  ac- 
cording to  their  custom,  to  weep  over  every  person  they 
met,128  in  order  to  manifest  the  lively  joy  which  they  felt 

materials  of  the  weapons  used  by  the  Sioux.  The  pierre  de  moulange  means 
pierre  de  meule  or  meuliere,  that  is,  millstone-grit;  the  former  phrase  is  still  in 
use  in  Canada  with  that  meaning.  —  TAILHAN. 

Axes  of  stone  were  in  general  use  by  the  tribes  of  North  America,  save  along 
the  Pacific  coast,  where  specimens  are  seldom  found.  They  varied  from  thirty 
pounds  to  one  ounce  in  weight,  the  majority  ranging  from  one  to  six  pounds; 
they  were  usually  fastened  to  handles  by  withes  and  cords,  which  were  kept 
in  place  by  grooves  or  notches  cut  in  the  stone.  These  implements  were  quickly 
superseded  by  the  iron  axes  introduced  and  furnished  to  the  Indians  by  the 
Europeans.  —  W.  H.  HOLMES  and  GERARD  FOWKE,  in  Handbook  Amer.  Indians. 

126  "The  Dacotahs,  or  Sioux,  were  in  the  seventeenth  century  what  they  are 
still  to-day,  one  of  the  most  powerful  and  most  numerous  savage  peoples  of 
North  America.  They  were  divided  into  two  great  sections,  the  eastern  or 
sedentary  Sioux,  and  the  western  or  nomadic  Sioux.  The  former  inhabited,  on 
both  banks  of  the  Upper  Mississippi,  the  territory  of  which  Perrot  farther  on 
outlines  for  us  the  limits.  The  old  Relations  of  New  France  designate 
them  under  the  name  Nadoiiessis  (Nadouessiouek,  and  Nadoiiessioux). 
The  nomadic  Sioux,  dispersed  through  the  immense  plains  of  the  West  to  the 
north  of  the  Missouri,  extended  their  inroads  and  their  hunting  as  far  as  the 
Rocky  Mountains.  The  tribe  among  them  nearest  to  the  Nadoiiessioux  figures 
in  the  Relation  of  1660  (chap,  iii)  under  the  name  of  Poualaks,  or  'warriors.'  " 
"Perrot  in  his  memoir  notices  only  the  eastern  Sioux  (the  Nadoiiessioux  of  the 
Relations),  and  from  what  he  says  of  them  it  is  easy  to  judge  that  that  people 
were  greatly  superior,  in  moral  qualities,  to  the  various  tribes  of  either  the 
Algonquin  or  the  Huron-Iroquois  stock.  As  brave  as  any  one  of  those  tribes, 
the  Sioux  were  more  faithful  to  their  promises,  friends  to  peace,  benevolent  and 


one]    FLIGHT  OF  THE  HURONS  AND  OUTAOUAS     161 

in  meeting  them;  and  they  entreated  the  strangers  to 
have  pity  on  them,  and  to  share  with  them  that  iron, 
which  they  regarded  as  a  divinity.  The  Outaoiias,  see- 

hospitable  to  strangers,   humane  to  their  conquered   and  captive  enemies  — to 

whom  they  almost  always  gave  their  liberty,  and  whom  they  did  not  commence 

to  torture  until  the  law  of  retaliation   (from  which  a  savage  never  considers 

himself  dispensed)   rendered  it  a  sacred  duty  to  them.     The  Relations  of  New 

France  are,  in  reference  to  the  Sioux,  entirely  in  accord  with  Perrot;  and  their 

testimony  is  here  all  the  less  suspicious  because  it  concerns  a  people  who  were 

implacable  enemies  of  the  tribes  who  were  evangelized  by  the  religious  of  the       \&^;       fio-- 

Society  of  Jesus,  the  authors  of  those  relations."     (See  the  Relation  of  1667,       (    Of 

chap,  xii;   id.  of  1671,  third  part;   id.  of  1674,  chap.   ix).     "To  this  proved 

bravery  the  Sioux  —  less  perfidious  than  the  Iroquois,  to  whom  their  courage 

made   them   equal  —  united    an   inviolable   fidelity  to   their   sworn   promise,    a 

moderation  which  did  not  permit  them  to  attack  until  after  they  had  been  first 

assailed  (Relation  of  1670,  chap,  xi),  and,  in  war,  a  generous  conduct  far  above 

that  of  the  Hurons  and  the  Algonquins.     Satisfied  with  having  obtained  the 

victory,  they  most  often  gave  freedom  to  the  prisoners  taken  in  battle  (Relation 

of  1671,  chap.  iv).     All  this  will  doubtless  surprise  readers  who  are  accustomed, 

giving  credence  to  modern  writers,  to  picture  to  themselves  the  Sioux  under  a 

different  aspect     Certainly  it  is  a  far  cry  from  these  people,  such  as  Perrot 

and  the  Relations  of  New  France  display  to  us,  to  the  Sioux  of  the  American 

journals—  as  cowardly  as  cruel,  as  perfidious  as  vindictive.     But  as  peoples,  like 

individuals,  are  subject  to  deplorable  transformations,  how  can  one  be  surprised 

if  the  Sioux  of  to-day  have  no  longer  anything  in  common  with  those  of  former 

times?     Perhaps   also,   in  the   moment  when  they   are  being  exterminated   in 

order  to  punish  them  for  their  cruelties,  and  especially  in  order  to  cleanse  more 

quickly  the  house  which  others  wish  to  occupy,  in  the  portrait  which  has  been 

depicted  for  us  the  features  have  been  coarsened  or  distorted  and  the  colors  laid 

on  too  heavily.     Such  procedure  is  much  practiced,  and  the  wisdom  of  nations 

has  long  taken  it  into  account." 

"The  Sioux  tilled  the  soil  after  the  manner  of  the  Hurons ;  but  they  cultivated 
hardly  anything  besides  tobacco  and  a  little  maize  (Relation  of  1642,  chap, 
xii).  .  .  In  order  that  each  man  might  gather  his  harvest  in  peace,  without 
encroaching  on  any  other,  the  Sioux  divided  among  themselves  the  marshes  and 
the  lakes  in  which  the  wild  oats  grew  (Relation  of  1671,  chap.  iv).  As  their 
country  was  poorly  supplied  with  trees,  neither  they  nor  the  Poualaks  covered 
their  lodges  with  sheets  of  bark,  as  did  the  savages  of  the  Saint  Lawrence;  but 
they  used  for  this  elk-skins  very  well  dressed,  and  so  skilfully  sewed  together 
that  no  cold  penetrated  through  them.  Some  of  them,  more  industrious,  built 
for  themselves  'houses  of  sticky  earth  [terre  grasse],  very  much  as  the  swallows 
build  their  nests.'  They  burned  mineral  coal  (Relation  of  1660,  chap,  iii;  id. 
of  1667,  chap,  xii)."  Polygamy  was  in  great  honor  among  them,  each  Sioux  t  ") 
having  seven  or  eight  wives  (Relation  of  1660,  chap.  iii).  Hardly  any  other 
worship  was  known  to  them  than  that  of  the  calumet  (Relation  of  1670,  chap, 
xi).  In  their  battles  they  used  almost  exclusively  the  bow  and  arrows,  and 


1 62  NICOLAS   PERROT  [Vol. 

ing  these  people  weeping  over  all  who  approached 
them,  began  to  feel  contempt  for  them,  and  regarded 
them  as  people  far  inferior  to  themselves,  and  as  in- 
capable even  of  waging  war.  They  gave  to  the  envoys 

that  with  so  much  skill  and  rapidity  that  in  a  moment  the  air  was  full  of  their 
darts  — 'especially  when,  after  the  manner  of  the  Parthians,  they  turn  about 
while  fleeing;  for  it  is  then  that  they  shoot  their  arrows  so  quickly  that  they 
are  to  be  feared  no  less  in  their  flight  than  in  their  attack'  (Relation  of  1671, 
chap.  iv).  Finally,  their  language  differs  in  every  way  from  that  of  the 
Hurons  and  that  of  the  Algonquins  (id.  of  1670  and  1671,  ut  supra).  All  that 
has  just  been  said  is  true  of  the  Poualaks  as  well  as  of  the  Nadoiiessioux 
or  sedentary  Sioux.  Between  these  different  divisions  of  the  one  people  there 
never  existed  more  than  two  points  of  unlikeness,  and  those  purely  accidental : 
one,  that  the  Nadoiiessioux  lived  in  a  territory  of  which  the  limits  were  nearly 
fixed  (Perrot,  88)  ;  the  other,  that  they  had  some  knowledge  of  navigation,  to 
which  the  Poualaks  and  the  rest  of  the  Siouan  tribes  were  strangers."  See 
Father  Maresr*s  account  in  1712  (Lett,  edif.,  vol.  vi,  372). 

"Nothing  is  more  difficult  than  to  fix  even  approximately  the  figures  of  the 
Siouan  population  in  the  seventeenth  century;  all  that  can  be  said  is,  that  it 
must  have  risen  to  a  very  high  number.  The  Relations,  indeed,  assign  to  the 
Nadoiiessioux  forty  villages,  to  the  Poualaks  at  least  thirty,  and  to  the  Assini- 
poualaks  thirty  (Relation  of  1656,  chap,  xiv;  id.  of  1658,  chap,  v;  id.  of  1660, 
chap,  iii;  id.  of  1671,  third  part)  —  without  mentioning  the  Ayoes,  who  very 
probably  belonged  to  the  Siouan  people.  .  .  That  admitted,  it  would  be 
necessary,  as  a  very  natural  result,  to  include  in  the  reckoning  the  Ouinipegous 
or  Puans  [i.e.,  the  Winnebagoes],  a  people  who  were  formerly  very  numerous 
(Relation  of  1667,  chap,  x;  id.  of  1640,  chap,  x),  but,  later,  almost  entirely  ex- 
terminated by  the  Illinois  (Relation  of  1670,  chap,  xii)  ;  and  they  spoke  the  same 
language  as  did  the  Ayoes  or  Aiouas  (Relation  of  1676).  Even  as  concerns 
the  eastern  Sioux,  or  Nadoiiessioux,  the  figures  given  by  the  Relations  may  be 
regarded  as  much  below  the  real  numbers.  .  .  In  1829  a  missionary  com- 
puted at  ten  thousand  the  number  of  men  able  to  bear  arms  among  the  Sioux 
residing  in  the  vicinity  of  Fort  Saint  Peter  on  the  upper  Mississippi ;  and  at 
twenty-five  or  thirty  thousand  the  number  of  women  and  children.  This  latter 
figure  is  probably  inadequate;  it  is  thirty  or  forty  thousand  that  he  must  have 
meant  (Annales  de  la  propagation  de  la  Foi,  vol.  iv,  536).  Another  missionary 
allows  to  the  Sioux  only  eight  thousand  souls  in  all  (id.,  vol.  viii,  311,  312)  ;  and 
a  third  (id.,  vol.  xxiv,  423),  three  thousand  lodges  and  thirty  thousand  souls." 

-  TAILHAN. 

The  houses  of  earth  mentioned  in  the  Relation  of  1660  probably  refer  to  the 
earth  lodges  constructed  by  the  Omaha,  Osage,  Pawnee,  and  other  tribes;  see 
description  and  illustrations  of  these  in  Handbook  Amer.  Indians,  art.  "Earth 
lodge"  and  "Habitations."  In  the  northwest,  and  especially  in  the  Dakotas, 
there  are  extensive  beds  of  lignite,  of  good  quality ;  the  settlers  obtain  much  fuel 
from  these  in  some  localities,  where  it  can  be  easily  dug  from  the  ground,  the 
strata  often  outcropping  above  the  surface.  —  ED. 


one]    FLIGHT  OF  THE  HURONS  AND  OUTAOUAS     163 

a  few  trifles,  such  as  knives  and  awls ;  the  Scioux  declared 
that  they  placed  great  value  on  these,  lifting  their  eyes 
to  the  sky,127  and  blessing  it  for  having  guided  to  their 
country  these  peoples,  who  were  able  to  furnish  them  so 
powerful  aid  in  ameliorating  their  wretched  condition. 
The  Outaoiias  fired  some  guns  which  they  had ;  and  the 
report  of  these  weapons  so  terrified  the  Scioux  that  they 
imagined  it  was  the  thunder  or  the  lightning,  of  which 
the  Outaoiias  had  made  themselves  masters  in  order  to 
exterminate  whomsoever  they  would.  The  Scioux, 
whenever  they  encountered  the  Hurons  and  Outaoiias, 
loaded  them  with  endearing  terms,  and  showed  the 
utmost  submissiveness,  in  order  to  touch  them  with  com- 
passion and  obtain  from  them  some  benefits;  but  the 
Outaoiias  had  even  less  esteem  for  them  when  they  per- 
sisted in  maintaining  before  them  this  humiliating  atti- 
tude. 

The  Outaoiias  finally  decided  to  select  the  island 
called  Pelee128  as  the  place  of  their  settlement;  and  they 
spent  several  years  there  in  peace,  often  receiving  visits 
from  the  Scioux.  But  on  one  occasion  it  happened  that 
a  hunting-party  of  Hurons  encountered  and  slew  some 
Scioux.  The  Scioux,  missing  their  people,  did  not  know 
what  had  become  of  them;  but  after  a  few  days  they 
found  their  corpses,  from  which  the  heads  had  been  sev- 

127  Among  most  of  the  Indian  tribes,  the  sky  was  revered  not  only  as  the 
residence  of  a  deity,  but  (by  a  sort  of  personification)  as  the  deity  himself,  and 
was  often  invoked,  especially  at  councils;  the  sun  also  was  regarded  as  a  deity. 
See   Jesuit  Relations,   vol.    x,    159-165,    195,   273,   vol.   xviii,   211,   vol.   xxiii, 
55,  vol.  xxxiii,  225,  vol.  xxxix,  15,  vol.  xlvi,  43,  vol.  Ixviii,  155.  —  ED. 

128  "Pelee  [i.e.,  Bald]  Island  is  situated  in  the  Mississippi,  three  leagues  be- 
low the  mouth  of  the  Sainte-Croix  River,  and  at  the  entrance  to  the  Lake  of 
Bon-Secours  (now  Lake  Pepin).     Its  surface  was  entirely  bare  of  trees,  which 
in  early  days  caused  the  name  to  be  given  to  it  under  which  it  is  designated  by 
Perrot  and  by  Charlevoix  (Histoire,  vol.  iii,  398).  — TAILHAN. 

Its  location  was  at  the  upper  end  of  Lake  Pepin,  opposite  Red  Wing,  Minn. 
Charlevoix  says  (ut  supra} :  "The  French  of  Canada  have  often  made  it  the 
center  of  their  trade  in  those  western  regions."  —  ED. 


164  NICOLAS   PERROT  [Vol. 

ered.  Hastily  returning  to  their  village,  to  carry  this  sad 
news,  they  met  on  the  way  some  Hurons,  whom  they 
made  prisoners;  but  when  they  reached  home  the  chiefs 
liberated  the  captives  and  sent  them  back  to  their  own 
people.  The  Hurons,  so  rash  as  to  imagine  that  the 
Scioux  were  incapable  of  resisting  them  without  iron 
weapons  and  firearms,  conspired  with  the  Outaoiias  to 
undertake  a  war  against  them,  purposing  to  drive  the 
Scioux  from  their  own  country  in  order  that  they  them- 
selves might  thus  secure  a  greater  territory  in  which  to 
seek  their  living.  The  Outaoiias  and  Hurons  according- 
ly united  their  forces  and  marched  against  the  Scioux. 
They  believed  that  as  soon  as  they  appeared  the  latter 
would  flee,  but  they  were  greatly  deceived,  for  the 
Scioux  sustained  their  attack,  and  even  repulsed  them; 
and,  if  they  had  not  retreated,  they  would  have  been 
utterly  routed  by  the  great  number  of  men  who  came 
from  other  villages  to  the  aid  of  their  allies.  The  Outa- 
oiias were  pursued  even  to  their  settlement,  where  they 
were  obliged  to  erect  a  wretched  fort;  this,  however,  was 
sufficient  to  compel  the  Scioux  to  retire,  as  they  did  not 
dare  to  attack  it. 

The  continual  incursions  made  by  the  Scioux  forced 
the  Outaoiias  to  flee.129  They  had  become  acquainted 

129  "Perrot  adds  no  chronological  indication  to  his  curious  narrative  of  the 
Huron  and  Outaouais  migrations.  We  will  endeavor  to  fill  this  gap,  by  hav- 
ing recourse  to  the  contemporaneous  Relations.  In  that  of  1672  (chap,  iv)  see 
first,  briefly  described,  the  main  events  of  that  flight;"  the  Hurons,  driven  from 
their  own  country  by  the  Iroquois,  fled  to  Michilimackinac,  thence  to  the  islands 
at  the  mouth  of  Green  Bay,  and  finally  to  the  western  end  of  Lake  Superior, 
where  also  the  Ortawas  took  refuge.  Alarmed  at  the  hostile  attitude  assumed 
by  the  Sioux  toward  them,  they  resolved  to  return  (1671)  to  Michilimakinac. 
"Thus  less  than  twenty  years  (from  1652  or  1653  to  1671)  had  been  sufficient 
to  bring  back  the  Hurons  and  the  Outaouais  to  their  starting  point;  for  these 
latter  also  returned,  in  1671,  to  Manitoualine  Island,  and  later  to  Saguinan, 
which  they  had  left  at  the  same  time  when  the  Hurons  abandoned  Missili- 
makinac  (Relation  of  1671,  third  part,  chap,  iv;  Charlevoix,  Histoire,  vol.  Hi, 
279).  The  flight  of  these  peoples  to  the  Huron  Islands  cannot  be  placed  later 


one]    FLIGHT  OF  THE  HURONS  AND  OUTAOUAS     165 

with  a  stream  which  is  called  Black  River;  they  entered 
its  waters  and,  ascending  to  its  source,  the  Hurons  found 
there  a  place  suitable  for  fortifying  themselves  and  es- 
tablishing their  village.  The  Outaoiias  pushed  farther 
on,  and  proceeded  as  far  as  Lake  Superior,  where  they 
fixed  their  abode  at  Chagouamikon  [Chequamegon].  • 
The  Scioux,  seeing  that  their  enemies  had  departed,  re- 
mained quietly,  without  pursuing  them  farther;  but  the 

than  1653 ;  for  the  Relation  of  the  following  year  (of  1654,  chap,  iv)  shows  us 
that  they  were  settled  there,  and  were  sending  from  those  distant  regions  one 
of  their  parties  to  trade  at  Montreal  and  Three  Rivers.  In  1657  the  Hurons 
and  the  Outaouais,  who  a  few  years  before  had  abandoned  those  islands  in 
order  to  penetrate  farther  within  the  Mechingan  of  Perrot  (now  western  Michi- 
gan and  Wisconsin),  were  residing,  the  former  on  the  shore  of  the  Bay  of  Puans, 
among  the  Pouteouatamis,  where  they  had  victoriously  repulsed  the  attack  of  the 
Iroquois;  the  latter,  among  the  Ouinipegous  or  Puans,  and  among  the  Ma- 
loumines  (Relation  of  1658,  chap.  v).  .  .  From  the  beginning  of  1660,  the  "" 
Outaouais  inhabited  Point  Chagouamigon,  as  well  as  the  islands  that  belong 
to  it  on  the  southern  shore  of  Lake  Superior  (Relation  of  1661,  chap,  iii;  id.  of 
1664,  chap.  i).  The  Hurons,  at  the  same  period,  kept  themselves  in  hiding  near 
the  sources  of  the  Black  River,  at  six  days'  journey  (forty  or  fifty  leagues) 
from  the  same  lake,  and  seven  or  eight  days  from  the  Bay  of  Puans  (Relation 
of  1660,  chap.  iii).  These  two  peoples  were  visited  in  1659  by  two  French 
traders,  who  pushing  farther  ahead,  formed  an  alliance  with  the  Sioux  (ibid.). 
It  is,  therefore,  between  the  years  1657  and  1660  that  the  events  related  by 
Perrot  must  have  taken  place,  from  the  flight  of  the  Hurons  and  Outaouais 
to  the  Mississippi  until  their  first  disputes  with  the  Sioux,  followed  by  a  new 
migration,  which  was  not  to  be  the  last  one  (Perrot,  chap.  xv).  The  Hurons 
were  still  occupying  the  same  location  toward  the  end  of  1661  (Relation  of 
1663,  chap,  vii)  but  their  sojourn  there  was  not  very  long.  In  1665  Father 
Allouez  found  the  two  tribes  reunited  at  the  Point  (Relation  of  1667,  chap,  iii, 
vi,  vii,  viii).  Four  years  later  the  number  of  savages  at  Chagouamigon  was 
fifteen  hundred,  of  whom  five  hundred  were  Christian  Hurons  of  the  Tobacco 
tribe.  The  rest  were  composed  of  pagan  Hurons  and  of  Algonquins  who  had 
accompanied  their  flight,  belonging  to  the  Sinagaux,  Kiskakon,  and  Keinouche 
Outaouais  (Relation  of  1667,  chap,  vii;  id.  of  1670,  chap.  xi).  In  estimating 
at  forty  or  fifty  leagues  the  six  days'  journey  which  separated  Lake  Superior 
from  the  residence  of  the  Hurons  (Relation  of  1660,  chap,  iii),  I  have  only  ap- 
plied the  rule  therefor  indicated  by  Father  Dreuillettes  in  the  Relation  of  1658 
(chap,  v) :  'You  will  also  see  the  new  routes  for  going  to  the  North  Sea  [i.e., 
Hudson  Bay]  .  .  .  with  the  distances  in  leagues,  according  to  the  number 
of  days'  journeys  which  the  savages  spend  therein  —  which  I  place  at  fifteen 
leagues  a  day  in  going  down-stream,  on  account  of  the  swiftness  of  the  currents, 
and  seven  or  eight  leagues  in  going  up-stream."  "  —  TAILHAN. 


1 66  NICOLAS   PERROT  [Vol. 

Hurons  were  not  willing  to  keep  the  peace,  and  sent  out 
several  hostile  bands  against  the  Scioux.  These  expedi- 
tions had  very  little  success;  and,  moreover,  drew  upon 
them  frequent  raids  from  the  Scioux,  which  compelled 
them  to  abandon  their  fort,  with  great  loss  of  their  men, 
and  go  to  join  the  Outaoiias  at  Chagouamikon. 

As  soon  as  they  arrived  there,  they  planned  to  form  a 
war-party  of  a  hundred  men,  to  march  against  the  Scioux 
and  avenge  themselves.  It  is  to  be  observed  that  the 
country  where  the  latter  dwell  is  nothing  but  lakes  and 
marshes,  full  of  wild  oats ;  these  are  separated  from  one 
another  by  narrow  tongues  of  land,  which  extend  from 
one  lake  to  another  not  more  than  thirty  or  forty  paces 
at  most,  and  sometimes  five  or  six,  or  a  little  more.  These 
lakes  and  marshes  form  a  tract  more  than  fifty  leagues 
square,  and  are  traversed  by  no  river  save  that  of  Loiiis- 
ianna  [the  Mississippi] ;  its  course  lies  through  the 
midst  of  them,  and  part  of  their  waters  discharge  into 
it.  Other  waters  fall  into  the  Ste.  Croix  River,  which 
is  situated  northeast  of  them,  at  no  great  distance.  Still 
other  marshes  and  lakes  are  situated  to  the  west  of  the  St. 
Pierre  [Peter]  River,  into  which  their  waters  flow.  Con- 
sequently, the  Scioux  are  inaccessible  in  so  swampy  a 
country,  and  cannot  be  destroyed  by  enemies  who  have 
not  canoes,  as  they  have,  with  which  to  pursue  them. 
Moreover,  in  those  quarters  only  five  or  six  families  live 
together  as  one  body,  forming  a  small  village;  and  all 
the  others  do  the  same,  removed  from  one  another  at 
certain  distances,  in  order  to  be  near  enough  to  be  able 
to  lend  a  helping  hand  at  the  first  alarm.  If  any  one  of 
these  little  villages  be  attacked,  the  enemy  can  inflict 
very  little  damage  upon  it,  for  all  its  neighbors  imme- 
diately assemble,  and  give  prompt  aid  wherever  it  is 
needed.  Their  method  of  navigation  in  lakes  of  this  kind 


one]    FLIGHT  OF  THE  HURONS  AND  OUTAOUAS     167 

is,  to  push  through130  tnc  wild  oats  with  their  canoes, 
and,  carrying  these  from  lake  to  lake,  compel  the  fleeing 
enemy  to  turn  about  [and  thus  bewilder  him]  ;  they, 
meanwhile,  pass  from  one  lake  to  another  until  they 
clear  them  all  and  reach  the  firm  ground. 

The  hundred  Hurons  became  involved  among  these 
swamps,  and  without  canoes;  they  were  discovered  by 
some  Scioux,  who  hastened  to  spread  the  alarm  every- 
where. That  was  a  numerous  people,  scattered  along  all 
the  borders  of  the  marshes,  in  which  they  gathered  abun- 
dance of  wild  oats ;  this  grain  is  the  food  of  those  people, 
and  tastes  better  than  does  rice.  More  than  3,000  Scioux 
came  together  from  every  side,  and  besieged  the  Hurons. 
The  loud  noise,  the  clamor,  and  the  yells  with  which  the 
air  resounded  showed  them  plainly  that  they  were  sur- 
rounded on  all  sides;  and  that  their  only  resource  was 
to  make  head  against  the  Scioux  (who  were  eagerly 
striving  to  discover  their  location),  unless  they  could 
find  some  place  by  which  they  could  retreat.  In  this 
straitened  condition,  they  concluded  that  they  could  not 
do  better  than  to  hide  among  the  wild  oats,  where  the 
water  and  mud  reached  their  chins.  Accordingly,  they 
dispersed  in  various  directions,  taking  great  pains  to 
avoid  noise  in  their  progress.  The  Scioux,  who  were 
sharply  searching  for  them,  and  only  longed  to  meet 
them  in  battle,  found  very  few  of  them,  and  were  per- 
suaded that  they  themselves  were  entirely  hidden  by 
the  wild  oats ;  but  they  were  greatly  astonished  at  seeing 
only  the  trail  made  in  leaving  the  lake,  and  no  trace  of 
the  Hurons'  entrance.131  They  bethought  them  of  this 

130  In  the  text  we  read  devant,  which  is  apparently  a  copyist's  error  for 
dedans.  —  TAILHAN. 

131  This  sentence  follows  the  original  text  of  the  Ms.,  which  was,  however, 
printed  otherwise  by  Tailhan,  under  the  impression  that  the  words  sortie  and 
entree  had  been  transposed  by  oversight  of  either  the  author  or  the  copyist 


i68  NICOLAS   PERROT  [Vol. 

device:  they  stretched  across  the  narrow  strips  of  land 
[between  the  lakes]  the  nets  used  in  capturing  beavers ; 
and  to  these  they  attached  small  bells,  which  they  had 
obtained  from  the  Outaoiias  and  their  allies  in  the  visits 
which  they  had  made  to  those  tribes,  as  above  related. 
They  divided  their  forces  into  numerous  detachments, 
in  order  to  guard  all  the  passages,  and  watched  by  day 
and  night,  supposing  that  the  Hurons  would  take  the 
first  opportunity  to  escape  from  the  danger  which  threat- 
ened them.  This  scheme  indeed  succeeded ;  for  the  Hu- 
rons slipped  out  under  cover  of  the  darkness,  creeping  on 
all  fours,  not  suspecting  this  sort  of  ambuscade;  they 
struck  their  heads  against  the  nets,  which  they  could  not 
escape,  and  thus  set  the  bells  to  ringing.132  The  Scioux, 
lying  in  ambush,  made  prisoners  of  them  as  soon  as  they 
stepped  on  land.  Thus  from  all  that  band  but  one  man 
escaped;  he  was  called  in  his  own  language  Le  Froid 
["he  who  is  cold"] .  This  same  man  died  not  a  long  time 
ago.133 

The  captives  were  conducted  to  the  nearest  village, 
where  the  people  from  all  the  others  were  assembled  in 
order  to  share  among  them  the  prey.  It  must  be  ob- 
served that  the  Scioux,  although  they  are  not  as  warlike 

Later,  in  writing  his  annotations,  he  concluded  that  he  had  made  a  mistake,  and 
explains  the  Ms.  reading  thus:  "By  a  stratagem  familiar  to  savages,  and  in 
order  the  better  to  throw  off  the  track  the  Sioux  who  were  pursuing  them,  the 
Hurons  entered  the  lakes  of  wild  rice  by  walking  backward,  thus  leaving  only 
the  traces  of  their  departure."  —  ED. 

132  Cf.  Radisson's  device  for  the  protection  of  himself  and  Groseilliers  at 
Chequamegon  — "a  long  cord  tyed  wth  some  small  bells,  wch  weare  senteryes" 
(Wis.  Hist.  Colls.,  vol.  xi,  73).- ED. 

133  "This    disastrous    expedition    followed    the    arrival    of   the    Hurons    at 
Chagouamigon   (Perrot,  88),  consequently  it  could  not  have  occurred  before 
1662.     However,  it  preceded,  perhaps  by  a  few  years,  the  visit  that  the  chief  of 
the  Sinagaux  Outaouais  paid  to  the  Sioux  in  1665  or  1666  (Perrot,  91  and  99)  ; 
it  is  therefore  very  probable  that  the  defeat  of  the  Hurons  by  the  Sioux  be- 
longs to  either  1662  or  1663.     Charlevoix  (Histoire,  vol.  i,  346)  and  La  Potherie 
(Histoire,  vol.  ii,  217,  218)   have  borrowed  from  Perrot  the  narrative  of  this 
event,  but  without  endeavoring  to  assign  to  it  an  exact  date."  —  TAILHAN. 


one]    FLIGHT  OF  THE  HURONS  AND  OUTAOUAS     169 

or  as  crafty  as  the  other  tribes,134  are  not,  like  them, 
cannibals.  They  eat  neither  dogs  nor  human  flesh ;  they 
are  not  even  as  cruel  as  the  other  savages,  for  they  do 
not  put  to  death  the  captives  whom  they  take  from  their 
enemies,  except  when  their  own  people  are  burned  by 
the  enemy.  They  were  naturally  indulgent,  and  are  so 
now,  for  they  send  home  the  greater  number  of  those 
whom  they  have  captured.  The  usual  torture  which 
they  inflict  upon  those  whom  they  have  doomed  to 
death  is,  to  fasten  them  to  trees  or  stakes,  and  let  their 
boys  shoot  arrows  at  them ;  neither  the  warriors,  nor  any 
men,  nor  the  women,  took  part  in  this.  But,  as  soon  as 

is*  "Our  Ms.  bears  here,  written  over  the  lines,  the  following  correction: 
'It  must  be  observed  that  the  Sioux,  although  they  are  not  so  warlike,  are  more 
crafty  than  the  other  peoples,'  etc.  But  nothing  in  Perrot  seems  to  me  to  necessi- 
tate or  to  authorize  this  change."  The  following  lines,  at  first  sight,  would 
indicate  that  the  Canadian  savages  were  habitually  addicted  to  cannibalism; 
but  in  fact  they  practiced  it  only  occasionally  —  and  with  different  motives  from 
those  of  most  cannibals.  With  this  restricting  consideration,  "it  must  be  ac- 
knowledged that  the  accusation  made  by  Perrot  against  our  savages  is  entirely 
well-founded.  .  .  But  there  is  a  point  which  seems  to  me  very  worthy  of 
notice ;  it  is  the  contrast  which,  in  this  respect,  existed  in  primitive  times  between 
almost  all  of  the  peoples  in  the  Mississippi  region  and  all  of  the  other  peoples, 
both  savage  and  civilized,  of  New  France  and  Mexico.  We  have  previously  ob- 
served what  humanity  the  Sioux  displayed  toward  their  prisoners  of  war.  The 
numerous  tribes  of  Illinois,  who  occupied  over  so  vast  an  extent  the  valley  of 
the  Mississippi  below  the  Sioux,  reduced  their  enemies  to  slavery  and  sold  them 
to  the  neighboring  tribes;  but  it  is  not  known  that,  before  their  wars  with  the 
Iroquois,  they  tortured  or  killed  their  captives ;  we  are  even  certain  of  the  con- 
trary (Relation  of  1670,  chap,  xi;  Voyages  of  Father  Marquette,  vol.  i,  section 
6;  Lett,  edif.,  vol.  vi,  182,  183).  If  we  continue  to  descend  the  Mississippi  we 
encounter,  after  the  Illinois  and  the  Natchez,  the  Houmas,  still  more  gentle  and 
kind  to  their  captives  than  were  the  Illinois  and  the  Sioux.  When  at  the  end 
of  an  expedition  with  successful  result  the  Houma  warriors  made  their  solemn 
entry  into  their  village,  all  the  women  of  the  tribe  came  to  weep  over  the  con- 
quered, condoling  with  them  for  having  been  captured;  and  afterward  they 
treated  them  as  well  as  they  did  their  own  children,  if  not  better  (Gravier, 
Voyage).  .  .  To  return  to  the  peoples  of  the  Misssisippi,  I  must  admit  that 
the  Natchez  condemned  to  the  fire  those  enemies  whom  the  fate  of  battle  cast 
into  their  power  (Lett,  edif.,  vol.  vii,  26)  ;  but  we  do  not  know  whether  this 
custom  —  the  existence  of  which  was  made  known  to  us  for  the  first  time  only  in 
1712  — was  not  of  recent  institution  among  them,  and  the  result  of  retaliation 
for  a  long  time  provoked,  as  among  the  Sioux  and  the  Illinois."  —  TAILHAN. 


i7o  NICOLAS   PERROT  [Vol. 

they  saw  their  own  people  burned,  they  resolved  to  do 
the  same  by  way  of  reprisal ;  even  in  this,  however,  they 
do  not  behave  with  as  much  cruelty  as  do  their  enemies - 
either  because  some  motive  of  pity  or  compassion  will 
not  permit  them  to  behold  such  suffering,  or  because 
they  believe  that  only  despair  can  make  the  captives 
sing  during  their  torments  with  so  much  fortitude  and 
bravery,  if  it  may  be  so  called.  On  this  account  they 
speedily  kill  their  captives  with  clubs. 

The  Scioux,  having  shared  the  prisoners,  sent  back 
part  of  them,  and  made  the  others  objects  for  their 
sport -delivering  them,  as  I  said,  to  their  boys  to  be 
shot  to  death  with  arrows;  their  bodies  were  then  cast 
upon  the  dung-heap.  Those  whose  lives  they  spared 
were  condemned  to  see  their  comrades  die,  and  were 
then  sent  home.  Having  arrived  there,  they  gave  a 
faithful  account  of  all  that  had  occurred,  and  said  that, 
having  seen  the  numbers  of  the  Scioux,  they  believed  it 
impossible  to  destroy  them.  The  Outaoiias  listened  very 
attentively  to  the  relations  of  these  new  arrivals,  but,  as 
they  were  not  very  brave  warriors,  they  were  not  will- 
ing to  make  any  hostile  attempt;  and  the  Hurons,  recog- 
nizing the  smallness  of  their  numbers,  made  up  their 
minds  to  meditate  revenge  no  longer,  but  to  live  peace- 
ably at  Chagouamikon,  [which  they  did]  during  several 
years.  In  all  that  time  they  were  not  molested  by  the 
Scioux,  who  gave  all  their  attention  to  waging  war 
against  the  Kiristinons  [Crees],  the  Assiniboiiles,  and 
all  the  nations  of  the  north ;  they  ruined  those  tribes,  and 
have  been  in  turn  ruined  by  them.  For  all  those  tribes 
are,  at  the  present  time,  reduced  to  very  small  numbers : 
the  Scioux,  who  formerly  had  more  than  seven  or  eight 
thousand  men,  seem  to  be  those  who  travel  by  canoe,135 

135  "The  text  of  Perrot  here  seems  to  me  to  be  so  badly  treated  that  I  do  not 
even  attempt  to  discover  the  real  meaning.  All  that  I  think  I  understand  in 


one]    FLIGHT  OF  THE  HURONS  AND  OUTAOUAS     171 

instead  of  which  the  other  tribes  of  the  prairies  cannot 
all  together  form,  to-day,  a  body  of  more  than  a  hundred 
men  or  so,  at  most.  It  is  true  that  the  Renards,  the  Mas- 
koutechs,  and  the  Kikapous  have  greatly  contributed  to 
defend  them,  and  not  the  other  tribes. 

Father  Mesnard,136  who  had  been  assigned  to  the 

this  sentence  is,  that  the  Sioux  —  not  only  those  who  travel  by  canoe,  but  those 
of  the  plains  — destroyed  their  enemies,  but  not  without  themselves  experiencing 
losses  so  considerable  that  they  were  reduced  almost  to  nothing."  —  TAILHAN. 

"Immediately  in  touch  with  the  skin-boat  countries  all  around  the  Arctic, 
from  Labrador  to  Kodiak  in  Alaska  and  southward  to  the  line  of  the  white 
birch,  eastward  of  the  Rocky  Mountains,  and  including  the  country  of  the  great 
lakes,  existed  the  birch-bark  canoe.  With  framework  of  light  spruce  wood, 
the  covering  or  sheathing  of  bits  of  to»gh  bark  sewed  together  and  made  water- 
tight by  means  of  melted  pitch,  these  boats  are  interesting  subjects  of  study,  as 
the  exigencies  of  travel  and  portage,  the  quality  of  the  material,  and  traditional 
ideas  produce  different  forms  in  different  areas.  .  .  From  the  northern 
boundary  of  the  United  States  (at  least  from  the  streams  emptying  into  the 
St  Lawrence),  southward  along  the  Atlantic  slope,  dugout  canoes,  or  pirogues, 
were  the  instruments  of  navigation.  On  the  Missouri  River  and  elsewhere  a 
small  tub-shaped  craft  of  willow  frame  covered  with  rawhide,  with  no  division 
of  bow  or  stern,  locally  known  as  the  bull-boat,  was  used  by  Sioux,  Mandan, 
Arikara,  and  Hidatsa  women  for  carrying  their  goods  down  or  across  the  rivers. 
It  was  so  light  that  when  one  was  emptied  a  woman  could  take  it  on  her  back 
and  make  her  way  across  the  land."  — OTIS  T.  MASON,  in  Handbook  Amer. 
Indians. 

The  name  Missouri  is  generally  understood  to  mean  "great  muddy,"  refer- 
ring to  the  turbid  waters  of  the  river  Missouri ;  but  an  interesting  statement  is 
made  by  Thomas  Forsyth  on  this  point,  among  some  scattered  memoranda  in  the 
book  containing  his  "Memoir  on  the  Sac  and  Fox  Indians"  (g.v.,  post,  vol.  n). 
He  says:  "Missouri  is  a  corruption  of  the  Indian  word  Miss-sou-ly  i.e.,  Canoe, 
and  that  nation  of  Indians  were  called  by  other  Indians  (particularly  the  Nin- 
ne-ways  [Illinois]  Indians  who  resided  east  of  the  Mississippi)  Miss-sou-li-au, 
that  is  'Canoe  men,'  as  they  done  all  their  travelling  in  canoes."  — ED. 

136  Rene  Menard  was  born  at  Paris  in  1604  or  1605,  and  entered  the  Jesuit 
order  in  1624;  he  came  to  Canada  in  1640,  and  spent  the  next  nine  years  as 
a  missionary  to  the  Hurons  (in  their  ancient  abode  near  Georgian  Bay).  After 
those  Indians  were  driven  westward  by  the  Iroquois  in  1649,  Menard  was 
stationed  at  Three  Rivers,  Canada,  during  some  seven  years,  and  then  spent 
two  years  among  the  Iroquois.  In  1660  he  was  sent  from  Montreal  with  a  party 
of  Ottawas  to  their  home  on  Lake  Superior,  and  spent  the  winter  with  them, 
where  he  suffered  great  hardships  and  was  harshly  treated  by  the  Indians.  In 
the  summer  of  1661,  hearing  that  some  Hurons  were  encamped  near  the  head- 
waters of  Black  River  in  Wisconsin,  he  set  out  to  visit  them;  but  near  the  end 
of  the  journey  he  lost  his  way  and  was  seen  no  more  —  probably  dying  of  hunger 
in  the  forest,  or  slain  by  some  Indian.  See  Jesuit  Relations,  vol.  xviii,  256,  257, 


172  NICOLAS   PERROT [Vol. 

Outaoiias  [1660]  as  a  missionary,  accompanied  by  some 
Frenchmen  who  were  going  to  trade  with  that  people, 
was  abandoned  by  all  the  men  whom  he  had  with  him- 
excepting  one,  who  even  until  death  rendered  to  the 
father  all  the  services  and  aid  that  he  could  look  for. 
This  father  followed  the  Outaoiias  to  the  lake  of  the 
Illinoets,  and  in  their  flight  into  the  Loiiisianna  region 
even  beyond  the  Black  River. 

It  was  there  that  only  one  solitary  Frenchman  re- 
mained as  companion  to  this  missionary,  and  that  all  the 
others  left  him.  This  Frenchman,  I  say,  carefully  fol- 
lowed the  route  and  made  portages  in  the  same  places 
as  did  the  Outaoiias,  never  turning  aside  from  the  same 
river  that  they  followed.  One  day  [in  August,  1661] 
he  was  in  a  swift  current,  w^hich  swept  him  away  in  his 
canoe;  in  order  to  aid  him  the  father  left  his  own  canoe, 
and  did  not  take  the  right  path  to  reach  him.  The 
father  entered  a  path  that  had  been  trodden  by  the 
[wild]  animals,  and,  attempting  to  regain  the  right  one, 
became  entangled  in  a  labyrinth  of  trees  and  lost  his  way. 
The  Frenchman,  after  he  had  with  great  difficulty  as- 
cended that  rapid,  waited  for  the  good  father;  and,  as 
the  latter  did  not  come,  he  resolved  to  go  in  search  of 
him.  In  the  woods  he  called  to  the  father,  shouting  as 
loudly  as  he  could,  for  several  days,  hoping  to  find  him, 
but  without  avail.  On  the  way,  however,  he  encoun- 
tered a  Sakis  who  was  carrying  the  missionary's  kettle, 
and  who  told  his  news  to  the  Frenchman -assuring  the 
latter  that  he  had  found  the  father's  tracks  far  inland 
[from  the  river],  but  that  he  had  not  seen  the  father 
himself.  He  said  that  he  had  also  found  the  tracks  of 
several  other  persons,  who  were  going  toward  the 
Scioux;  and  he  even  declared  that  he  thought  the  Scioux 

vol.  xlvi,  297,  vol.  Ixxi,  144;  also  H.  C.  Campbell's  monograph  on  Menard,  in 
Parkman  Club  Pubs.  (Milwaukee),  no.  u.  —  ED. 


one]    FLIGHT  OF  THE  HURONS  AND  OUTAOUAS     173 

must  have  killed  the  father,  or  that  he  had  been  cap- 
tured by  them.  In  fact,  the  missionary's  breviary  and 
cassock  were  found,  several  years  afterward,  among  that 
people,  who  displayed  those  articles  at  their  feasts,  con- 
secrating to  them  their  best  viands. 

The  Outaoiias,  having  settled  at  Chagouamikon,  there 
applied  themselves  to  the  cultivation  of  Indian  corn  and 
squashes,  on  which,  with  the  fish  they  could  catch,  they 
subsisted.  They  searched  along  the  lake  to  find  whether 
other  tribes  were  there,  and  encountered  the  Saulteurs 
who  had  fled  northwards,  and  with  them  some  French- 
men, who  had  followed  them  to  Chagouamikon  in 
order  to  settle  there.  Part  of  the  'Saulteurs  had  gone 
toward  Kionconan  [Keweenaw],  and  reported  that  they 
had  seen  many  tribes;  that  beavers  were  exceedingly 
abundant  there;  that  they  did  not  all  return  together 
because  they  had  left  their  people  at  the  north ;  that  the 
latter  intended  to  dwell  here,  but  without  a  fixed  resi- 
dence, purposing  to  roam  in  all  directions ;  and  that  the 
Nepissings  and  Amikouets  were  at  Alimibegon. 

At  these  tidings,  the  Outaoiias  went  away  toward  the 
north,  and  sought  to  carry  on  trade*  with  those  tribes 
[1662],  who  gave  them  all  their  beaver  robes  for  old 

*  "Evidences  of  widespread  commerce  and  rude  media  of  exchange  in  North 
America  are  found  in  ancient  shell-heaps,  mounds,  and  graves,  the  objects  hav- 
ing passed  from  hand  to  hand  often  many  times.  Overland,  this  trade  was  done 
on  foot,  the  only  domestic  animal  for  long-distance  transportation  being  the  dog, 
used  as  a  pack  beast  and  for  the  travois  and  the  sled.  In  this  respect  the  north 
temperate  zone  of  America  was  in  marvelous  contrast  with  the  same  latitudes 
of  the  Old  World,  where  most  of  the  commercial  animals  originated."  But  the 
lack  of  animals  was  made  up  by  using  the  water  routes,  especially  the  great 
river-systems,  navigable  for  canoes,  in  which  neighboring  waters  are  connected 
for  traffic  by  easy  portages.  "The  North  American  continent  is  divided  into 
culture  areas  in  a  way  conducive  to  primitive  commerce.  Certain  resources 
of  particular  areas  were  in  universal  demand,  such  as  copper,  jade,  soapstone, 
obsidian,  mica,  paint  stones,  and  shells  for  decoration  and  money,  as  dentalium, 
abalone,  conus,  olivella,  and  clam  shells."  The  Atlantic  slope  from  Labrador  to 
Georgia,  the  special  home  of  Algonquian  and  Iroquoian  tribes,  produced  abun- 
dance of  animal  life,  and  the  salt-water  bays  and  inlets  yielded  marine  creatures 


174  NICOLAS   PERROT  [Vol. 

knives,  blunted  awls,  wretched  nets,  and  kettles  used 
until  they  were  past  service.  For  these  they  were  most 
humbly  thanked;  and  those  people  declared  that  they 
were  under  great  obligations  to  the  Outaoiias  for  having 
had  compassion  upon  them  and  having  shared  with  them 
the  merchandise  which  they  had  obtained  from  the 
French.  In  acknowledgment  of  this,  they  presented  to 
them  many  packages  of  peltries,  hoping  that  their  vis- 
itors would  not  fail  to  come  to  them  every  year,  and 
to  bring  them  the  like  aid  in  trade-goods.  They  assured 
the  Outaoiias,  at  parting,  that  they  would  go  on  a  hunt- 
ing expedition  [to  make  ready]  for  their  coming;  that 
they  would  be  present,  without  fail,  at  the  rendezvous 
agreed  upon ;  and  that  they  would  surely  wait  for  them 
there. 

In  the  following  year  [1663]  the  Outaoiias  and  all  the 

and  aquatic  birds  in  profusion,  for  food  supplies,  at  the  same  time  stimulating 
easy  transportation  and  commerce.  "The  great  lakes  and  the  St.  Lawrence, 
moreover,  placed  the  tribes  about  them  in  touch  with  the  copper  mines  of  Lake 
Superior.  Through  this  enlarging  influence  the  Iroquois  were  ennobled  and 
became  the  leading  family  of  this  area.  A  medium  of  exchange  was  invented 
in  the  shape  of  wampum,  made  from  clam  shells.  The  mounds  of  the  southern 
portion  of  this  slope  reveal  artifacts  of  copper,  obsidian,  and  shell,  which  must 
have  been  transported  commercially  from  afar  along  the  water  highways  in 
birch-bark  canoes  and  in  dugouts.  The  Mississippi  area  was  a  vast  receiving 
depot  of  commerce,  having  easy  touch  with  other  areas  about  it  by  means  of 
portages  between  the  headwaters  of  innumerable  streams,"  which  connected  it 
with  those  areas  from  Chesapeake  Bay  to  Columbia  River.  "The  mounds 
reveal  dentalium  shells  from  the  Pacific,  obsidian  from  the  Rockies,  copper 
from  Lake  Superior,  pipes  of  catlinite  and  black  steatite  from  Minnesota  and 
Canada,  and  objects  from  the  Atlantic.  .  .  Commerce  was  greatly  stimulated 
through  the  coming  of  the  whites  by  the  introduction  of  domestic  animals,  es- 
pecially horses,  mules,  donkeys,  cattle,  sheep,  goats,  poultry;  by  the  vastly  en- 
larged demand  for  skins  of  animals,  ivory,  fish,  and  native  manufactures;  by 
offering  in  exchange  iron  tools  and  implements,  woven  goods,  and  other  Euro- 
pean products  desired  by  the  Indians.  The  effects  of  this  stimulated  trade  were 
profound,  for  both  good  and  evil.  Indians  were  drawn  far  from  home.  The 
Iroquois,  for  example,  traveled  with  the  fur  traders  into  northwestern  Canada. 
Many  kinds  of  Indian  handiwork  have  entered  into  world  commerce.  .  .  In 
ancient  times  there  were  intertribal  laws  of  commerce,  and  to  its  agents  were 
guaranteed  freedom  and  safety."  —  OTIS  T.  MASON,  in  Handbook  Amer.  Indians. 


one]    FLIGHT  OF  THE  HURONS  AND  OUTAOUAS     175 

other  tribes  who  were  trading  with  the  French  were 
going  down  in  a  body  to  Quebec.  They  did  so  not  with- 
out fear,  for  they  imagined  that  the  Irroquois  were  in 
ambuscade  everywhere.  However,  they  did  not  en- 
counter the  enemy  until  they  reached  Cape  Massacre 
(which  is  the  locality  of  the  latest  land-grants),  below 
Saint  Ours;  and  in  that  place  there  were  sixteen  Irro- 
quois, who  carried  away  an  [Algonkin]  canoe,  and  eight 
men  who  were  paddling  it,  in  the  sight  of  all  the  Outa- 
oiia  fleet.  This  fleet,  I  say,  very  far  from  giving  chase 
to  so  weak  an  enemy,  was  on  the  point  of  returning 
home,  and  abandoning  their  own  [cargo  of]  peltries  as 
well  as  that  which  the  Frenchmen  had  shipped  with 
them.  It  is  certain  that  the  French  had  much  difficulty 
in  dissuading  them  from  this  idea,  and  that  without 
[this  effort]  they  would  have  carried  out  the  resolution 
that  they  had  made  to  return  directly  home.  On  their 
arrival  at  Quebec,  the  chief  of  the  Outaoiias  was  put  in 
prison,  with  irons  on  his  feet,  for  having  abandoned  the 
missionary  who  had  lost  his  way.  All  his  people  gave 
valuable  presents  in  order  to  have  him  set  at  liberty; 
and  as  soon  as  they  obtained  him  they  traded  their  pel- 
tries and  returned  to  their  own  village,  with  two  French- 
men whom  they  carried  with  them. 

At  the  end  of  two  years  [1665]  they  came  down  to  the 
Colony  to  get  the  articles  which  they  needed.  They 
were  overtaken,  at  the  portage  of  the  Calumets,  by  a 
party  of  Irroquois  who  were  waiting  for  them,  where 
the  latter  had  built  a  wretched  fort  of  stakes -which 
might  have  been  torn  down  with  the  hands  if  the  Outa- 
oiias had  had  the  courage  to  approach  it,  since  the 
stakes  were  not  very  heavy.  Their  only  endeavor  was  to 
fell  some  trees  upon  the  fort,  but  this  was  unsuccessful, 
so  they  invested  it.  After  they  had  been  thus  besieged 


176 NICOLAS   PERROT [Vol. 

during  five  days,  without  being  taken,  the  Irroquois 
held  a  parley  with  the  Outaoiias,  and  told  them  to  con- 
tinue their  journey  in  entire  safety,  protesting  that  they 
would  not  follow  them.  But  the  latter  did  not  place 
much  confidence  in  this,  and  came  very  near  throwing 
their  peltries  on  the  ground,  and  likewise  abandoning 
those  of  the  Frenchmen  who  had  embarked  with  them, 
whom  the  Outaoiias  had  carried  [to  the  upper  country] 
in  the  preceding  years.  They  were  exhorted  to  do  noth- 
ing of  that  sort,  and  the  men  from  the  Colony  induced 
them  by  liberal  promises  to  carry  their  merchandise 
thither.  By  dint  of  urging,  they  consented  to  go  down 
to  Three  Rivers,  on  the  way  casting  into  the  river  the 
greater  part  of  their  own  peltries,  in  order  to  save  those 
of  the  Frenchmen -who,  having  received  what  be- 
longed to  them,  hid  themselves  until  the  departure  of 
the  savages.  This  trick  drew  upon  them  a  thousand  re- 
proaches and  insults  from  the  Outaoiias. 

In  pointing  out  to  you  that  the  Hurons,  when  they 
abandoned  their  own  country  [dispersed] -some  to  re- 
turn to  the  [French]  colony,  and  the  others  to  find  a 
refuge  farther  on -I  neglected  to  state  that  those  who 
went  down  to  the  Colony  [1650]  had  for  their  mission- 
ary, Father  I'Allemand,137  and  that  a  detachment  of 
French  soldiers  was  designated  to  receive  them.  Be- 

137  "The  remnants  of  the  Huron  missions  were  conducted  to  Quebec  by  Father 
Paul  Ragueneau ;  no  Father  Lallemand  figures  in  the  narratives  of  that  sorrow- 
ful migration  (Relation  of  1650,  chap,  viii,  ix).  Neither  the  Relation  of  1650 
nor  Charlevoix  alludes  to  the  misadventure  of  the  father  charged  with  guiding 
to  Quebec  the  fugitive  Hurons;  Perrot  alone  has  preserved  for  us  the  memory 
of  it  But  the  silence  of  the  former  and  the  error  into  which  the  latter  has 
fallen  as  to  the  name  of  the  missionary  who  was  ill-treated  by  Le  Borgne  of  the 
island,  are  not  sufficient  grounds  for  entirely  rejecting  the  story  of  our  author. 
The  Creuse  River  is  one  of  the  numerous  affluents  of  the  Outaouais;  a  little 
below  its  mouth  is  encountered  the  island  of  Allumettes  (called  also  Le  Borgne's 
Island,  for  the  reason  assigned  by  the  author),  and  still  farther  down  the 
island  of  Grand  Calumet,  and  the  rapids  and  the  portage  of  the  same  name." 

-  TAILHAN. 


one]    FLIGHT  OF  THE  HURONS  AND  OUTAOUAS     177 

tween  Creuse  River  and  the  Calumets  there  is  a  large 
island,  commonly  named  Isle  du  Borgne,  otherwise 
called  Isle  des  Allumettes.  It  is  named  Isle  du  Borgne 
because  the  chief  of  the  Algonkin  village  which  was 
established  there  was  a  one-eyed  man.  He  had  under 
his  command  there  four  hundred  warriors,  and  was 
regarded  as  the  terror  of  all  the  peoples,  even  of  the 
Irroquois.  This  chief  gathered  a  certain  toll  from  all 
travelers  who  went  down  to  the  French  colony,  for  per- 
mission to  pass  by  that  place,  and  without  it  he  would 
not  allow  them  to  go  any  farther.  It  was  therefore 
necessary  to  submit  to  his  demands,  whether  ascending 
or  descending  [the  river]  ;  and  ip  order  to  find  him  one 
was  obliged  to  go  by  way  of  the  main  channel,  which  is 
toward  the  south  of  the  island ;  the  lesser  channel,  which 
is  much  shorter,  is  at  the  north.  When  the  Hurons 
reached  the  upper  end  of  the  island,  they  intended  to 
pass  by  the  village,  according  to  custom,  to  wait  upon 
the  chief  and  ask  his  permission  to  pass  by  [his  village]  ; 
but  Father  I'Allemand  told  them  that  the  French,  being 
masters  of  the  country,  were  not  obliged  to  do  that,  and 
persuaded  them  to  follow  the  small  channel.  Le 
Borgne  was  soon  informed  of  this,  and  sent  all  his  war- 
riors to  bring  all  the  Hurons  to  the  village;  and  after 
they  were  asked  the  reason  why  they  had  planned  to  pass 
without  his  permission  they  excused  themselves  by  say- 
ing that  it  was  Father  I'Allemand  who  had  prevented 
them  from  asking  it,  and  that  he  had  made  them  believe 
that  the  French  were  the  masters  of  the  nations.  Le 
Borgne  seized  Father  I'Allemand  and  had  him  sus- 
pended from  a  tree  by  the  arm-pits,  telling  him  that  the 
French  were  not  the  masters  of  his  country;  and  that  in 
it  he  alone  was  acknowledged  as  chief,  and  they  [all] 
were  under  his  authority. 


i78  NICOLAS   PERROT  [Vol. 

In  the  following  year  he  went  down  to  the  Colony, 
making  his  men  carry  him  into  and  out  of  his  canoe, 
and  never  taking  a  step  without  being  escorted  by  his 
guards;  but  that  did  not  prevent  him  from  being  ar- 
rested and  placed  in  a  dungeon.  The  savages  of  his 
following  tried  to  make  some  disturbance,  in  order  to 
get  him  out  of  prison;  but  the  authorities  immediately 
put  themselves  on  the  defensive,  and  sent  word  to  the 
savages  to  behave  themselves.  In  short,  the  only  atti- 
tude that  they  could  take  was  that  of  submission,  and 
of  humiliating  themselves  with  offers  of  presents  in 
order  to  obtain  the  freedom  of  their  chief,  who  was  re- 
leased a  few  days  afterward. 

See  what  the  French  accomplished  in  the  first  estab- 
lishment of  the  Colony,  although  it  was  then  of  very 
little  importance  in  the  world.  They  have  been  able  to 
preserve  and  maintain  the  glory  of  the  nation  against 
the  savages  (who  were  incomparably  stronger  and  more 
numerous  at  that  time  than  they  are  now),  since,  if  I 
dare  say  it,  we  were  their  masters.  Did  we  not  oblige 
them  to  recognize  this  by  valuable  presents,  which  were 
acknowledged  only  by  very  ordinary  ones?  and  did  not 
we  even  inform  them,  in  offering  these,  that  it  was  done 
only  through  compassion  for  their  miserable  condition? 
On  the  other  hand,  in  this  present  time  of  ours  they  de- 
sire to  dominate  us  and  be  our  superiors ;  they  even  re- 
gard us  as  people  who  are  in  some  manner  dependent 
on  them.  I  will  explain  what  has  given  rise  to  this 
presumption  [of  theirs],  and  how  it  will  be  difficult  to 
remove  it  from  their  minds. 

The  Outaoiias  and  other  tribes  lived  peaceably  for 
many  years  in  the  country  where  they  had  taken  refuge 
to  escape  from  being  annoyed  by  the  Scioux.  An  Irro- 
quois  party  came  one  day  to  Sault-Sainte-M arie  [1662], 


one]    FLIGHT  OF  THE  HURONS  AND  OUTAOUAS     179 

to  look  for  a  village  to  eat;  they  were  confident  that, 
having  carried  terror  among  all  the  other  savages,  whom 
they  had  driven  from  their  native  lands,  they  would 
make  themselves  feared  as  soon  as  they  came  in  sight. 
The  hundred  Irroquois  men  who  composed  this  party 
went  above  Sault-Sainte-Marie,  and  proceeded  to  en- 
camp at  the  mouth  of  Lake  Superior,  five  leagues  or 
thereabout  from  the  rapids;  and  there  they  descried 
fires  along  the  high  hills  at  the  north,  not  far  distant 
from  them ;  they  sent  scouts  in  that  direction,  to  ascertain 
who  might  be  there. 

Some  Saulteurs,  Outaoiias,  Nepissings,  and  Ami-  \ 
kouets  had  left  their  settlement  and  come  hither  to  hunt ' 
elk  in  the  neighborhood  of  this*  Sault,  and  to  carry  on 
their  fishing  for  the  great  whitefish,  or  salmon,  which 
they  catch  there  in  abundance,  in  the  midst  of  the  boil- 
ing waters  of  those  rapids.  Hardly  any  place  is  known 
where  this  fish  is  so  large  or  so  fat  as  those  which  are 
found  here.  These  people  were  scattered  about,  hunt- 
ing, when  one  of  them  perceived  the  smoke  from  the 
camp  of  the  Irroquois.  They  gave  warning  to  one  an- 
other, and  rallied  together  to  the  number  of  a  hundred 
men.  They  elected  for  chief  of  their  party  a  Saulteur, 
who  well  deserved  to  be  thus  honored;  for  he  had  a 
.thorough  knowledge  of  the  region  where  they  were, 
having  lived  in  it  before  the  war  with  the  Irroquois. 

This  chief  first  of  all  sent  out  a  canoe  to  reconnoiter, 
which  was  seen  by  the  Irroquois  who  had  been  detailed 
for  the  same  purpose ;  but  the  latter,  believing  that  they 
had  not  been  perceived,  remained  motionless,  for  fear  of 
failing  in  their   [intended]   attack,  and  apprehensive  I 
that  (the  Algonkins,  if  these  happened  to  escape  from    ' 
their  clutches,  would  go  to  warn  the  entire  village, 
whose  people  would  immediately  take  to  flight.    The 


i8o  NICOLAS   PERROT  [Vol. 

Saulteurs  advanced,  and  proceeded  as  far  as  the  camp 
of  the  Irroquois  without  being  discovered;  a  very  dense 
forest  favored  them,  so  that  they  had  opportunity  to 
count  the  enemy  and  the  women  whom  they  had  with 
them.  The  intention  and  plan  of  the  people  who  were 
encamped  there  was,  to  carry  away  the  [inhabitants  of 
the]  villages,  one  place  after  another,  remaining  in  each 
[long  enough]  to  consume  the  provisions  which  they 
would  find  there,  and  doing  the  same  with  regard  to  the 
others. 

The  scouting  party  of  the  Saulteurs,  having  succeeded 
therein,  returned  to  their  camp  to  report  the  discovery 
that  they  had  just  made.  Their  people  immediately 
embarked,  and  proceeded  all  night  without  being  able 
to  reach  the  place  where  the  Irroquois  were ;  they  passed 
it,  however,  in  a  very  thick  fog,  without  being  perceived 
by  any  one.  They  had  gained  knowledge  of  a  little  cove, 
quite  deep,  the  head  of  which  was  in  the  rear  of  the 
[Irroquois]  camp;  they  gained  that  location,  and  con- 
cluded that  they  must  defer  the  attack  on  the  enemy 
until  the  next  day.  During  the  night  they  made  their 
approaches,  and  posted  themselves  on  a  small  but  steep 
bank  of  earth,  some  five  or  six  feet  high,  at  the  base  of 
which  were  the  tents  of  the  Irroquois,  who  were  sleep- 
ing very  tranquilly.  Their  dogs,  scenting  the  ambushed 
Saulteurs,  were  beguiled  by  a  little  meat  that  was  thrown 
to  them,  in  order  to  prevent  them  from  barking;  and 
when  the  light  of  day  began  to  appear  sufficiently  for 
discharging  their  arrows  with  effect,  the  assailants 
uttered  their  usual  war-cries.  The  Irroquois  awoke, 
and,  trying  to  hasten  to  seize  their  arms,  they  were 
pierced  by  the  shots  that  were  fired  at  them  from  every 
side,  and  were  forced  to  face  about  by  the  enormous 
number  of  arrows  that  were  showered  upon  them.  When 


one]    FLIGHT  OF  THE  HURONS  AND  OUTAOUAS     181 

the  Saulteurs  had  finished  shooting  them  (I  mean  the 
men),  they  leaped  down  from  the  bank,  [and]  entered 
the  tents  of  their  enemies,  with  clubs  in  their  hands.  It 
was  then  that  the  Saulteur  youth  gave  way,  and  fled 
toward  their  canoes,  while  the  men  dealt  their  blows 
everywhere,  and  one  could  know  by  their  yells  whenever 
they  killed  an  Irroquois.  Those  who  tried  to  flee  to- 
ward the  shore  were  fiercely  attacked;  the  Saulteur 
youth,  who  had  not  seconded  their  elders  in  the  fight, 
regained  their  courage  when  they  heard  the  cries  of  vic- 
tory uttered  by  the  latter,  and  rushed  to  meet  those  Irro- 
quois who  had  been  routed,  and  finished  the  slaughter, 
none  of  the  enemy  escaping.  You  see  how  complete 
their  victory  was.138 

The  Irroquois  who  had  been  sent  out  as  scouts  re- 
turned to  their  camp  a  few  days  after  this  defeat,  expect- 
ing to  join  their  people  there ;  but  when  they  found  only 
headless  corpses  on  the  ground,  and  the  bones  of  those 
whose  flesh  had  been  eaten,  they  made  diligent  haste  to 
carry  back  to  their  own  country  this  dismal  news.  It  is 
said  that  the  Irroquois  have  not  dared  since  that  time 
to  enter  the  Lake  Superior  [country]  ;  but  in  truth  they 
have  never  set  any  limits  [to  their  operations]  in  waging 
war,  and,  as  pitiless  man-eaters,  they  have  always  taken 
pleasure  in  drinking  the  blood  and  eating  the  flesh  of 
all  the  different  tribes,  going  to  seek  their  prey  even  to 
the  confines  of  America. 

After  the  defeat  of  the  Irroquois,  the  Saulteurs  and 
their  companions  returned  in  triumph  to  Kionconan  and 
Chagouamikon.  They  dwelt  there  in  peace  always,  un- 
til some  Hurons  who  had  gone  to  hunt  on  the  borders  of 
the  Scioux  country  (for  Chagouamikon  is  not  far  away 

i3s  «The  Relation  of  1663  (chap,  iv)  ascribes  all  the  honor  of  this  victory 
to  the  Sauteurs,  and  informs  us,  besides,  that  the  Iroquois  war-party  was  com- 
posed of  Agniers  and  Onneiouths"  [i.e.,  Mohawks  and  Oneidas].  —  TAILHAN. 


i82          NICOLAS   FERROT 

from  there) ,  cutting  across  the  country  in  a  straight  line, 
[a  distance  of]  fifty  to  sixty  leagues,  [captured  some  of 
the  Scioux],  whom  they  carried  away  to  the  [Saulteur] 
villages  alive,  as  they  were  not  desirous  of  killing  them. 
The  people  received  these  captives  very  kindly,  and  es- 
pecially the  Outaoiias,  who  loaded  them  with  presents, 
Although  they  did  not  seem  very  appreciative  of  their 
welcome,  it  is  certain  that  they  would  have  been  thrown 
into  the  kettle  if  it  had  not  been  for  the  Outaoiias.  When 
the  Scioux  wished  to  return  home,  Sinagos,  the  Outaoiia 
chief,  accompanied  them  [1665-1666],  with  his  men  and 
four  Frenchmen.  On  their  arrival  in  the  Scioux  coun- 
try, and  during  all  the  time  that  they  spent  there,  many 
kind  attentions  were  offered  to  them ;  but  they  did  not 
bring  back  a  large  stock  of  peltries,  because  those  people 
are  accustomed  to  roast  their  beavers  [whole],  in  order 
to  eat  them. 

Honors  were  heaped  on  Chief  Sinagos,  and  they  sang 
the  calumet139  for  him -which  is  one  of  the  notable 

139  See  description  of  the  calumet  in  Marquette's  Recit  de  Voyages  (section 
6).  "To  employ  the  calumet  for  'talking  with  strangers,'  was  the  same  as 
what  Perrot  calls  here  'singing  the  calumet  to  them.'  Observe  how  the 
Ayoes,  allies  of  the  Sioux,  sang  it  to  our  author"  (La  Potherie,  Histoire,  vol.  5i, 
185).  "The  song  or  dance  of  the  calumet  was  also  held  in  great  honor  among 
the  Illinois;"  see  Father  Allouez's  account  of  it  in  Relation  of  1667,  chap.  xi. 
Cf.  Marquette's  Voyages,  vol.  5,  section  6;  this  has  been  reproduced  almost 
textually  by  La  Potherie  (Histoire,  vol.  ii,  16-20).  —  TAILHAN. 

Calumet  (a  Norman-French  word,  originally  derived  from  Low  Lat.  cala- 
mellus,  dimin.  of  calamus,  "reed") :  "Either  one  of  two  highly  symbolic  shafts 
of  reed  or  wood,  about  two  inches  broad,  one-fourth  inch  thick,  and  eighteen 
inches  to  four  feet  long  — the  one  representing  the  male,  the  other  the  female 
shaft,  usually  perforated  for  a  pathway  for  the  breath  or  spirit,  painted  with 
diverse  symbolic  colors  and  adorned  with  various  symbolic  objects,  and  which 
may  or  may  not  have  a  pipe  bowl  to  contain  tobacco  for  making  a  sacred 
offering  of  its  benevolent  smoke  to  the  gods.  In  modern  usage  the  term  usually 
includes  the  pipe.  Its  coloring  and  degree  of  adornment  varied  somewhat  from 
tribe  to  tribe,  and  were  largely  governed  by  the  occasion  for  which  the  calumet 
was  used.  From  the  meager  descriptions  of  the  calumet  and  its  uses  it  would 
seem  that  it  has  a  ceremonially  symbolic  history  independent  of  that  of  the 
pipe;  and  that  when  the  pipe  became  an  altar,  by  its  employment  for  burning 


|  w   -'I-  -y-i    >   •'T.yn 

(f)  1    *    i  .  '  —  MIT 

nt      no,     ha.         ni         nt      no.      An,    n* 

£  —  T     T-    *  9     i     «f'  1  ** 

(j—  1  ^'        »             I  —  *  '     f    '      ' 

f—}  —  i  —  T  —  T  i   1  —  1*-p 

ft  J,    ,l  .  ,.._  I    1     \     '     - 

ni        nt'     no.-       n*       no.      ni      on 

Mi            .     J      J    1   1,, 

(^  —  J    a  —  i  1  —  L 
9'  •      •  —  :  —  r-=  —  =-/> 

<(M^  —  y..ii     •     "  ; 

^aa            nt          no,       kti,        nt.      nt     no.  . 

4i-4     1  —  1  —  i    i[    1 

Art           ni          ni            na          ha,            nt. 

.t^T—  !  !  '    .    '     1    1 

AV       .i/       ,/n/    .-A««        ^.     »u»    <-A< 

f—  -«  —  ft       p  —  i      f    i  —  i-n 

i   s      1      J     .J   J   J    A  Jfl''*' 

<|M  —  J  ^-J  —  ^     J    J; 

"i(       ;  >i.l/l           A.I   '        OK            <Alfi         ./<• 
/?                                                                                           u 

h  "i  i   i  'i  =*=*=^ 

i  <    *  —  ;      j      J  —  J    •  oil 
!  /:  1  —  l~~t  —  t~~~i  tllii, 

tW*L  1  1  1  '  L_ 

'    Xa       <n/<i     Aw       n^>    t.7«<-     fl/    chtt  cka 

(  i  1  —  gU-i  —  •  'g   i    J  fl([Hk 

|         ..^    .•/,//    .•/,.,    ,-.;,   ./,•    A-     /,..     /„•     /,.. 

CALUMET  SONG 


FLIGHT  OF  THE  HURONS  AND  OUTAOUAS     185 

marks  of  distinction  conferred  by  them,  for  they  render 
him  who  has  had  that  honor  a  son  of  the  tribe,  and 
naturalize  him  as  such.  When  the  calumet  is  presented 
and  sung  to  him,  obedience  is  due  to  him  from  the 
people  of  the  tribe.  The  calumet  constrains  and  pledges 
those  who  have  sung  it  to  follow  to  war  the  man  in 
whose  honor  it  has  been  sung;  but  the  same  obligation 

sacrificial  tobacco  to  the  gods,  convenience  and  convention  united  the  already 
highly  symbolic  calumet  shafts  and  the  sacrificial  tobacco  altar,  the  pipe-bowl ; 
hence  it  became  one  of  the  most  profoundly  sacred  objects  known  to  the  Indians 
of  northern  America.  .  .  The  calumet  was  employed  by  ambassadors  and 
travelers  as  a  passport ;  it  was  used  in  ceremonies  designed  to  conciliate  foreign 
and  hostile  nations  and  to  conclude  lasting  peace  to  ratify  the  alliance  of  friendly 
tribes ;  to  secure  favorable  weather  for  journeys ;  to  bring  needed  rain ;  and  to 
attest  contracts  and  treaties  which  could  not  be  violated  without  incurring  the 
wrath  of  the  gods.  The  use  of  the  calumet  wa&  inculcated  by  religious  precept 
and  example.  A  chant  and  a  dance  have  become  known  as  the  chant  and  the 
dance  of  the  calumet;  together  they  were  employed  as  an  invocation  to  one  or 
more  of  the  gods.  .  .  The  dance  and  the  chant  were  rather  in  honor  of  the 
calumet  than  with  the  calumet.  .  .  J.  O.  Dorsey  asserts  that  the  Omaha  and 
cognate  names  for  this  dance  and  chant  signify  'to  make  sacred  kinship,'  but 
not  'to  dance.'  This  is  the  key  to  the  esoteric  significance  of  the  use  of  the 
calumet.  The  one  for  whom  the  dance  for  the  calumet  was  performed  became 
thereby  the  adopted  son  of  the  performer.  .  .  From  Dorsey's  account  of  the 
Omaha  calumets  it  is  evident  that  they  are  together  the  most  highly  organized 
emblems  known  to  religious  observances  anywhere;  and  it  is  further  in  evi- 
dence that  the  pipe  is  an  accessory  rather  than  the  dominant  or  chief  object 
in  this  highly  complex  synthetic  symbol  of  the  source,  reproduction  and  con- 
servation of  life.  .  .  By  smoking  together  in  the  calumet  the  contracting 
parties  intend  to  invoke  the  sun  and  the  other  gods  as  witnesses  to  the  mutual 
obligations  assumed  by  the  parties,  and  as  a  guaranty  the  one  to  the  other  that 
they  shall  be  fulfilled.  This  is  accomplished  by  blowing  the  smoke  toward  the 
sky,  the  four  world-quarters,  and  the  earth,  with  a  suitable  invocation.  .  . 
There  were  calumets  for  commerce  and  trade  and  for  other  social  and  political 
purposes,  but  the  most  important  were  those  designed  for  war  and  those  for 
peace  and  brotherhood.  .  .  The  use  of  the  calumet,  sometimes  called  'peace 
pipe'  and  'war  pipe,'  was  widespread  in  the  Mississippi  Valley  generally,"  from 
the  Chippewa  and  Cheyenne  in  the  north  to  the  Choctaw  and  Natchez  in  the 
south;  "in  the  Ohio  and  St.  Lawrence  Valleys  and  southward  its  use  is  not  so 
definitely  shown."  — J.  N.  B.  HEWITT,  in  Handbook  Amer.  Indians. 

A  document  written  (1744)  by  the  Jesuit  missionary  Jacques  Eustache  le 
Sueur  states  that  the  calumet  dance  was  introduced  in  1720  by  emissaries  from 
the  Foxes  among  his  Abenaki  converts  on  the  St.  Lawrence,  in  order  to  seduce 
the  latter  from  their  French  alliance;  see  Wis.  Hist.  Colls.,  vol.  xvii,  194- 
200.  -  ED. 


i86  NICOLAS   PERROT  [Vol. 

does  not  rest  upon  him.  The  calumet  halts  the  warriors 
belonging  to  the  tribe  of  those  who  have  sung  it,  and 
arrests  the  vengeance  which  they  could  lawfully  take  for 
their  tribesmen  who  have  been  slain.  The  calumet  also 
compels  the  suspension  of  hostilities  and  secures  the  re- 
ception of  deputies  from  hostile  tribes  who  undertake 
to  visit  those  whose  people  have  been  recently  slain  by 
theirs.  It  is,  in  one  word,  the  calumet  which  has  author- 
ity to  confirm  everything,  and  which  renders  solemn 
oaths  binding.  The  savages  believe  that  the  sun  gave  it 
to  the  Panys,  and  that  since  then  it  has  been  communi- 
cated from  village  to  village  as  far  as  the  Outaoiias. 
They  have  so  much  respect  and  veneration  for  it  that  he 
who  has  violated  the  law  of  the  calumet  is  regarded  by 
them  as  disloyal  and  traitorous ;  they  assert  that  he  has 
committed  a  crime  which  cannot  be  pardoned.  In  for- 
mer times  this  was  the  obstinate  contention  of  the  sav- 
ages, and  they  are  still  of  the  same  opinion ;  but  that  does 
not  hinder  them  from  committing  acts  of  treachery 
while  employing  the  calumet.  Those  of  the  prairies 
have  the  utmost  attachment  for  it,  and  regard  it  as  a 
sacred  thing.  Never  did  they  betray  the  pledge  that 
they  had  given  to  those  who  sang  it,  when  that  nation 
dealt  a  blow  against  their  own -unless  he  who  had  sung 
it  should  perfidiously  take  part  in  the  attack  made  upon 
them.  That  would  be  the  basest  of  all  traitorous  acts, 
because  it  would  break  the  calumet  in  pieces  and  disrupt 
the  union  which  had  been  contracted  through  its  agency. 
I  have  just  said  that  the  Scioux  sang  the  calumet  to 
Chief  Sinagos;  this  ceremony  was  performed  in  their 
villages  with  authority  and  solemnity.  All  the  chiefs 
were  present,  and  gave  their  consent  to  an  inviolable 
peace.  After  that  solemnity,  Chief  Sinagos,  with  his 
people  and  the  Frenchmen  who  had  gone  with  him,  re- 


one]    FLIGHT  OF  THE  HURONS  AND  OUTAOUAS     187 

turned  to  Chagouamikon,  assuring  the  Scioux  that  he 
would  revisit  them  the  following  year.  This  he  failed  to 
do,  even  in  the  second  year  afterward;  and  the  Scioux 
did  not  know  what  had  caused  him  to  break  his  promise. 
It  happened,  however  [1669-1670],  that  some  Hurons, 
having  gone  to  hunt  far  toward  the  Scioux  country,  were 
captured  by  some  young  men  of  that  nation,  and  taken 
to  their  village.  The  chief,  who  had  sung  the  calumet  to 
Sinagos,  was  greatly  incensed  at  seeing  these  prisoners, 
and  made  it  his  business  to  protect  them ;  he  almost  at- 
tacked those  who  had  captured  them,  and  nearly  caused 
war  between  his  villages  and  theirs.  He  took  possession 
of  the  captives,  and  set  them  at  liberty.  On  the  next  day, 
this  chief  sent  one  of  them  to  Chagouamikon,  in  order 
to  assure  the  Hurons  that  he  had  not  been  to  blame  in 
the  late  affair;  that  the  attack  had  been  made  by  some 
misguided  young  men,  who  were  not  even  of  his  own 
tribe ;  and  that  in  a  few  days  he  himself  would  conduct 
to  their  homes  the  captives  whom  he  had  retained  in  his 
village.  That  Huron,  whom  he  had  sent  to  Chagoua- 
mikon to  assure  his  tribesmen  of  the  Scioux  chief's  sin- 
cere good-will,  told  them -either  because  he  chose  to 
lie,  or  because  some  one  instigated  him  to  do  so -that 
the  Scioux  had  made  prisoners  of  him  and  his  com- 
panions; that  he  had  fortunately  escaped  from  their 
hands;  and  that  he  did  not  know,  since  his  departure, 
whether  his  comrades  were  still  alive  or  had  been  put  to 
death. 

The  Scioux  chief  who  had  sung  the  calumet  to  Sin- 
agos chose  to  go  in  person  to  restore  the  Huron  captives 
to  their  people.  He  departed  from  his  village  with 
them ;  but  when  they  came  near  Chagouamikon  they  de- 
serted him.  Having  reached  their  friends,  they  declared 
that  they  had  just  escaped  from  death  by  flight.  The 


1 88  NICOLAS   PERROT  [Vol. 

Scioux  chief,  not  seeing  those  persons  the  next  morning, 
was  much  surprised;  he  nevertheless  persisted  in  his 
resolution  and  continued  on  his  way,  reaching  the  vil- 
lage on  the  same  day.  Not  daring,  however,  to  go 
among  the  Hurons,  whom  he  distrusted,  he  entered  the 
cabin  of  Chief  Sinagos,  to  whom  he  had  sung  the  calu- 
met, who,  with  all  the  Outaoiias,  received  him  very 
cordially.  He  explained  to  them  that  he  had  set  the 
Hurons  free;  he  had  four  companions,  including  a  wo- 
man. The  Hurons -crafty,  and  the  most  treacherous  of 
all  the  savage  tribes -when  they  could  not  persuade  the 
Outaoiias  to  deliver  the  Scioux  to  them,  concluded  to  see 
what  could  be  done  by  presents;  and  by  the  agency  of 
these  they  gained  over  Chief  Sinagos,  whose  house  the 
Scioux  had  entered.  Such  was  their  success  that  they 
corrupted  him ;  and  all  the  Outaoiias,  following  his  ex- 
ample, were  so  carried  away  that  they  had  the  inhuman- 
ity to  throw  the  Scioux  into  the  kettle  and  eat  them. 
At  the  same  time,  abandoning  their  villages,  they  went 
to  live  at  Michillimakinak  and  Manitoaletz  [1670- 
1671].  The  next  year  they  went  down  to  Montreal,  and 
bought,  in  exchange  for  their  peltries,  only  guns  and 
munitions  of  war- intending  to  march  against  the 
Scioux,  build  a  fort  in  their  country,  and  wage  war 
against  them  during  the  entire  winter.  Returning  home 
after  this  trading  expedition,  they  hastily  gathered  in 
their  grain-crops,  and  all  departed  in  a  body  to  march 
against  the  Scioux.  Their  forces  were  increased  along 
the  route ;  for  Chief  Sinagos  had  for  a  brother-in-law  the 
chief  of  the  Sakis,  who  resided  at  the  Bay;  and  the  Pou- 
teouatamis  and  the  Renards  were  his  allies.  As  the 
Outaoiias  had  brought  with  them  all  the  goods  which 
they  had  obtained  in  trade  with  the  French,  they  made 
presents  of  these  to  the  Pouteouatamis,  Sakis,  and  Re- 


one]    FLIGHT  OF  THE  HURONS  AND  OUTAOUAS     189 

nards,  who  formed  a  body  of  over  a  thousand  men,  all 
having  guns  or  other  powerful  weapons  of  defense. 

As  soon  as  they  arrived  in  the  Scioux  country,  they  fell 
upon  some  little  villages,  putting  the  men  to  flight  and 
carrying  away  the  women  and  children  whom  they  found 
there.  This  blow  was  so  quickly  dealt  that  they  had  not 
time  to  reconnoiter  or  to  erect  fortifications.  The  fugi- 
tives quickly  carried  the  alarm  to  the  neighboring  vil- 
lages, the  men  of  which  hastened  in  crowds  to  fall  upon 
their  enemies,  and  so  vigorously  attacked  them  that 
they  took  to  flight,  and  abandoned  the  fort  which  they 
had  commenced.  The  Scioux  pursued  them  without 
intermission,  and  slew  them  in  great  numbers,  for  their 
terror  was  so  overwhelming  that  in  their  flight  they  had 
thrown  away  their  weapons ;  besides,  they  were  stripped 
of  all  their  belongings,  and  some  of  them  had  only  a 
wretched  deerskin  for  covering.  In  a  word,  nearly  all 
of  them  perished -by  fighting,  by  hunger,  or  by  the 
rigor  of  the  climate.  The  Renards,  the  Kiskaouets,140 
and  the  Pouteouatamis,  tribes  less  inured  to  war  than  the 
others,  were  the  only  ones  whose  loss  \vas  not  so  great  in 
this  enterprise;  and  that  because  they  took  to  their  heels 
at  the  beginning  of  the  combat.  The  Hurons,  the  Sin- 
agos,  and  the  Sakis  distinguished  themselves  on  this  occa- 
sion and,  by  the  courageous  resistance  that  they  made, 
greatly  aided  the  fugitives  by  giving  them  time  to  get  the 
start  of  the  enemy.  At  the  end,  the  disorder  among 
them  was  so  great  that  they  ate  one  another  [  1 67 1  - 1 672] . 

The  two  chiefs  of  the  party  were  made  prisoners,  and 
Sinagos  was  recognized  as  the  man  to  whom  they  had 
sung  the  calumet;  they  reproached  him  with  his  perfidy 

140  The  Kishkakons,  the  Bear  clan  of  the  Ottawas.  In  1658  they  were  dwell- 
ing near  the  mouth  of  Green  Bay,  twenty  years  later  at  Mackinac;  still  later 
they  lived  along  the  St.  Mary's  River;  and  in  1736  they  were  divided  between 
Mackinac  and  Detroit.  —  ED. 


igo  NICOLAS   PERROT  [Vol. 

in  having  eaten  the  very  man  who  had  adopted  him  into 
his  own  nation.  They  were,  however,  unwilling  to  burn 
either  him  or  his  brother-in-law;  but  they  made  him 
go  to  a  repast,  and,  cutting  pieces  of  flesh  from  his  thighs 
and  all  other  parts  of  his  body,  broiled  these  and  gave 
them  to  him  to  eat- informing  Sinagos  that,  as  he  had 
eaten  so  much  human  flesh  and  shown  himself  so  greedy 
for  it,  he  might  now  satiate  himself  upon  it  by  eating 
his  own.  His  brother-in-law  received  the  same  treat- 
ment; and  this  was  all  the  nourishment  that  they  received 
until  they  died.  As  for  the  other  prisoners,  they  were 
all  shot  to  death  with  arrows,  except  a  Panys141  who  be- 
longed to  the  chief  of  those  savages;  and  he  was  sent 
back  to  his  own  country  that  he  might  faithfully  report 
what  he  had  seen  and  the  justice  that  had  been  admin- 
istered.142 

XVI.     War  of  the  Algonkins  against 
the  Irroquois 

I  will  here  resume  the  detailed  account  which  I  in- 
terrupted, concerning  the  war  of  the  Algonkins  against 
the  Irroquois. 

I.     The  Irroquois  Attack  the  Algonkins  and  the  French 

The  Irroquois,  having  routed  the  Hurons  and  driven 
away  many  tribes  into  distant  regions,  beheld  themselves 

141  Captives  taken  in  war  were  generally  enslaved,  and  these  slaves  were 
also  transferred  to  the  whites,  especially  to  the  French.     So  many  were  ob- 
tained (largely  by  the  Illinois)  from  the  Pawnees  that  the  Indian  slaves  were 
everywhere  known  as  the  Panis.     Slavery  in  Canada  was  not  legally  abolished 
until  1834.  — ED. 

142  "Two  reasons  have  induced  me  to  place  in  1665-1666  the  coming  of  the 
Sioux  to  Chagouamigon,  followed  by  their  return  to  their  own  country  with 
the  chief  of  the  Sinagaux  and  the  four  Frenchmen  of  whom  Perrot  speaks: 
The  first  is,  that  in  that  year  some  Sioux  certainly  visited  Point  de  Saint-Esprit 
(Relation  of  1667,  chap,  xii)  ;  the  second,  that  according  to  the  relation  of  events, 
as  it  is  given  by  our  author,  at  least  four  or  five  years  elapsed  between  this 


one]        ALGONKINS  AGAINST  THE  IROQUOIS          191 

masters  of  all  the  surrounding  territories,  and  had  no 
more  cause  for  fear,  save  the  Algonkins.  They  there- 
fore devoted  themselves  solely  to  the  destruction  of  that 
people,  and  went  down  into  their  country  in  order  to 
wage  war  there.  But  the  Algonkins,  as  they  did  not  feel 
strong  enough  to  defend  themselves  against  those  who 
came  to  attack  them,  sought  an  asylum  in  the  [French] 
colony;  they  were  pursued  thither.  Then  the  French 
united  with  the  Hurons  who  had  escaped  from  the  carn- 
age which  had  been  made  in  their  ancient  fatherland, 
and  took  up  the  cause  of  the  Algonkins.  During  this 
entire  war  many  detachments  were  sent  out,  both  small 
and  large,  who  sometimes  were  victorious  and  sometimes 
defeated.  When  the  Irroquois,  treacherous  and  crafty, 
saw  that  they  could  not  easily  succeed  in  their  schemes, 
they  demanded  peace.  But,  even  though  the  negotia- 
tions on  this  subject  were  well  advanced,  they  did  not 
cease  to  commit  acts  of  hostility  and  to  kill  with  clubs, 
when  they  were  least  expected;  they  took  the  ground 
that  the  peace  concerned  only  one  of  their  villages,  and 
that  consequently  all  the  others  could  undoubtedly  wage 
war  as  before.  We  have  even  known  the  people  of  a 
village  with  which  we  were  at  peace  to  become  members 
of  those  villages  who  were  not  thus  peaceable.  If  they 
found  themselves  captives,  and  were  asked  why  they 
joined  our  enemies,  they  would  say  that,  being  present 
by  chance  in  a  village  where  a  war-party  was  being 
formed,  they  had  enlisted  with  the  chief  who  com- 
manded it.  These  reasons  were  only  specious  ones,  and 
rendered  it  very  evident  that  they  were  steadily  persist- 
ing in  their  design  of  waging  war. 

visit  and  the  abandonment  of  Chagouamigon  in  1670-1671  by  the  Hurons  and     y 
Ottawas.     The  Relations  of  New  France  mention  in  various  places  the  quarrels 
of  these  two  latter  tribes  with  the  Sioux;  but  they  do  not  enter  at  all  into 
detail."  -  TAILHAN. 


i92  NICOLAS   PERROT  [Vol. 

Many  treaties  of  peace  of  this  sort  have  been  made, 
in  which  the  Algonkins  have  never  consented  to  be  in- 
cluded, being  persuaded  of  the  malignancy  and  bad  faith 
of  the  Irroquois,  who  have  never  had  any  other  idea  than 
that  of  absolutely  destroying  them.  They  have  never- 
theless consented  to  some  peaces  that  have  been  made ; 
but,  to  tell  the  truth,  there  has  never  been  any  real 
benefit  from  these,  since  the  Irroquois  have  very  often 
used  them  the  better  to  cover  up  their  game,  and  to  deal 
their  blows  with  more  security. 

II.     Defeat  of  the  Hurons 

The  treaty  of  peace  being  made  between  the  Algon- 
kins and  the  Irroquois,  the  latter  made  up  from  all  their 
villages  a  large  expedition  to  come  to  wage  war  in  the 
Colony,  and  to  carry  away  the  Hurons  settled  in  a  vil- 
lage at  the  extremity  of  the  island  of  Orleans,  who  had 
some  cultivated  lands  there.  It  must  be  understood  that 
there  was  not  then  any  French  settlement  from  Three 
Rivers  to  Cap  Rouge;  and  that  this  party  came  down  by 
the  Richelieu  River,  which  now  is  called  Sorel.  The 
Irroquois  went  past  Three  Rivers  at  night,  without  be- 
ing discovered,  and  descended  [the  river]  to  Quebec, 
where  they  had  the  same  fortune;  and  then  they  pro- 
ceeded toward  the  lands  of  the  Hurons,  in  order  to 
prepare  their  ambuscades  there.  They  resolved  to  wait 
until  the  next  day  [May  18,  1656],  that  they  might  more 
completely  take  the  Hurons  by  surprise  when  the  latter 
went  out  to  work  on  their  lands -because  at  that  time 
they  would  all  be  outside  of  their  fort.  Those  poor 
people,  who  had  not  the  least  expectation  of  this  blow, 
and  who  relied  upon  the  peace  which  existed  between 
them  and  the  Irroquois,  at  the  usual  hour  went  out,  both 
men  and  women,  to  work  on  their  lands ;  for  among  that 


one]         ALGONKINS  AGAINST  THE  IROQUOIS          193 

people,  who  are  naturally  industrious,  the  men  assist 
the  women  in  their  work,  contrary  to  the  custom  of  the 
savages.  As  soon  as  the  Irroquois  thought  that  all  of 
them  had  gone  away,  they  took  possession  of  the  land  be- 
tween the  fort  and  the  Hurons,  in  order  to  prevent  the 
latter  from  taking  refuge  within  it,  and  made  prisoners 
of  nearly  all  the  people  of  that  village.  The  manner  in 
which  this  affair  took  place  was  plainly  seen  from  Que- 
bec. 

The  Irroquois,  having  thus  rendered  themselves  mas- 
ters of  the  Hurons,  compelled  them  to  embark  in  their 
canoes,  and  they  passed  in  front  of  Quebec  in  open  day, 
meanwhile  obliging  the  captives  to  sing  while  passing, 
in  order  to  humiliate  them  still  more.  That  caused 
murmurings  among  the  citizens,  and  every  one  was  as- 
tonished that  the  French  did  not  curb  the  insolence  of  the 
Irroquois  by  cannonading  their  canoes,  which  proceeded 
side  by  side,  in  military  array;  but  they  did  not  attempt 
to  do  anything,  on  account  (as  they  said)  of  the  mis- 
sionaries who  were  among  the  Irroquois,  whom  they 
would  certainly,  on  account  of  that,  have  handed 
over  to  the  most  cruel  tortures.  I  will  not  dwell  longer 
on  this  subject,  the  {Jesuit}  Relations  having  made  suf- 
ficient mention  of  it. 

Meanwhile  the  Irroquois  returned  home  triumphant; 
they  put  to  death  part  of  the  prisoners,  and  granted  life 
to  the  others -who,  with  their  posterity,  will  remember 
that  they  were  abandoned  by  the  French  to  the  mercy 
of  their  enemies. 

III.     Defeat  of  the  Algonkins  by  the  Irroquois 

The  Irroquois  no  longer  set  their  minds  on  anything 
so  much  as  on  the  destruction  of  the  Algonkins,  who 
were  of  all  their  enemies  the  most  formidable.  They 


194  NICOLAS    PERROT  [Vol. 

had  reduced  the  Hurons  to  a  condition  in  which  they 
could  no  longer  inspire  fear,  and  regarded  the  French 
as  a  people  who  were  not  acquainted  with  their  mode  of 
warfare  and  were  incapable  of  vanquishing  them,  not 
knowing  [how  to  make]  their  way  through  the  forests  of 
the  country. 

The  friendly  reception  that  was  given  to  the  Irroquois 
when  they  came  in  large  bodies  to  Quebec  to  treat  of 
peace  led  them  to  imagine  that  we  feared  them ;  if  they 
came  in  small  squads,  the  French  gave  them  clothing, 
and  spoiled  them  with  the  presents  that  they  gave  them. 
This  idea  induced  them  to  conclude  peace  once  more 
with  the  Algonkins.  The  two  peoples  exchanged  col- 
lars with  each  other,  and  made  solemn  declaration  of 
the  inviolable  union  between  them,  promising  that  they 
would  not  fail,  in  the  following  winter,  to  meet  together 
in  order  to  cement  the  bond. 

The  Algonkins,  all  of  whose  villages  were  in  the  vicin- 
ity of  Three  Rivers,  set  out  at  the  usual  time  for  their 
winter  hunt,  and  separated  into  two  bands ;  one  took  its 
route  along  Nicolet  River,  and  the  other  toward  the 
Ouabmachis.143  In  those  regions  there  were  a  great  num- 
ber of  elk,  and  the  snow  was  very  favorable  for  hunting 
that  game ;  for  they  could,  without  taking  much  trouble, 
by  coursing  kill  as  many  elk  as  they  would  find. 

It  is  said  that  an  Algonkin  named  Piskaret,  who  was 
the  terror  of  the  Irroquois,  and  whose  valor  they  knew 
well,  entered  one  of  his  enemies'  villages,  killed  an  en- 
tire family  with  his  club,  and  then  took  refuge  in  one 
of  their  woodpiles.  The  following  night,  he  did  the 

i*3  "Perrot  writes  by  turns  Ouabmakis  and  Ouabmachis ;  I  have  adopted 
Ouabmachis,  preferring  it  as  more  closely  approaching  the  Ouamachis  of 
Charlevoix.  The  true  form  seems  to  me  to  be  Oumachiche,  from  which,  by 
cutting  off  the  Algonquin  article  ou  will  be  formed  Machiche,  the  name  at 
present  borne  by  this  river.  The  Machiche  rises  north  of  the  Saint  Lawrence, 
and  flows  into  the  part  of  that  river  which  is  called  Lake  St.  Peter."  -  TAILHAN. 


one]        ALGONKINS  AGAINST  THE  IROQUOIS          195 

same  in  another  house,  and,  having  deprived  the  dead 
of  their  scalps,  hid  himself  in  the  same  retreat.  But  the 
third  time  when  he  attempted  to  perform  an  exploit 
like  me  two  preceding,  he  was  discovered,  and  obliged 
to  flee.  He  was  naturally  agile  and  nimble,  and  steadily 
kept  considerably  in  advance  of  his  pursuers;  and  for 
this  reason  he  took  it  into  his  head  to  wait  for  them  until 
evening.  Seeing  that  the  night  was  approaching,  he  hid 
himself  in  the  hollow  of  a  tree.  Those  who  had  been 
running  after  him  thought  that  he  was  far  ahead,  and, 
no  longer  hoping  to  overtake  him,  occupied  themselves 
with  making  a  fire  not  far  from  his  retreat,  and  en- 
camped there.  When  he  saw  that  they  were  sound 
asleep,  he  broke  the  heads  of  them  all,  and  came  back 
laden  with  their  scalps. 

It  is  also  related  that  on  another  occasion  he,  with  four 
other  men,  attacked  five  Irroquois  canoes,  which  he 
capsized  by  firing,  not  at  the  men  within  them,  but  at 
the  bottoms  of  their  canoes,  with  bar-shot;  these  filled 
the  canoes  with  water,  and  made  them  overset.  Then 
rushing  upon  the  enemies  he  killed  them  all,  except  some 
prisoners  whom  they  were  carrying  away  for  the  amuse- 
ment of  their  village.  This  exploit  was  performed  in 
the  broad  part  of  the  mouth  of  Sorel  River,  in  the 
middle  of  the  stream.  These  extraordinary  deeds,  and 
many  others  of  the  same  sort,  rendered  this  man  redoubt- 
able among  the  Irroquois. 

The  Algonkins  tell  us  that  this  Piskaret  was  a  very 
brave  man;  and  that  he  placed  great  confidence  in  [the 
strength  of]  his  heart  and  his  legs.  He  set  out  one  day 
from  the  Nicolet  River  to  go  hunting  beyond  St.  Fran- 
c.ois  River;  and  as  he  was  returning  home,  laden  with 
the  muzzles  and  tongues  of  elks,  he  saw  behind  him  six 
Irroquois,  who  had  descried  him  before  he  saw  them, 


j 96  NICOLAS   PERROT  [Vol. 

and  who  carried  a  flag.  As  they  marched  they  were 
singing  the  peace-song,  by  which  they  made  it  known 
that  they  were  coming  with  the  intention  of  confirming 
the  peace.  The  Algonkin  intrepidly  approached  them, 
and,  sitting  down  with  them,  lighted  his  pipe  and  gave 
them  some  tobacco.  In  the  conversation  that  they  had 
together,  he  informed  them  that  his  village  was  on  the 
Nicolet  River,  and  in  it  were  one-half  of  the  Algonkins 
encamped  in  a  body,  the  other  half  being  on  the  Ouab- 
machis  River.  The  Irroquois  in  turn  informed  him  of 
what  had  brought  them  into  the  region  where  they  then 
were,  and  told  him  that  they  were  going  to  visit  their 
^  father  Ononthio,  and  to  congratulate  the  Algonkins. 
After  they  had  paid  each  other,  on  both  sides,  attentions 
and  expressions  of  regard,  they  arose  to  continue  their 
journey,  and  immediately  one  of  the  six  Irroquois  placed 
on  his  own  shoulders  the  load  that  the  Algonkin  had  to 
carry;  it  is  the  custom  of  the  savages  to  act  thus  with 
those  whom  they  greatly  honor  and  respect.  They  all 
marched  abreast,  the  Algonkin  in  the  midst  of  them; 
but  there  was  one  of  the  company  who  lagged  behind, 
and  who,  allowing  them  to  go  a  little  way  ahead,  after- 
ward quickly  rejoined  them,  and  killed  the  Algonkin 
(who  had  no  suspicion  of  him)  with  his  club. 

These  Irroquois  of  whom  I  have  just  spoken  had  been 
detached  from  a  large  party  (of  nearly  a  thousand  men) , 
to  go  scouting;  having  slain  the  Algonkin,  they  hastened 
with  all  speed  to  inform  their  people  of  all  that  they 
had  learned.  As  soon  as  the  Irroquois  heard  this,  they 
resolved  to  divide  their  men  into  two  bodies,  of  whom 
one  should  go  to  carry  away  the  Algonkins  at  Nicolet, 
and  the  other  to  seize  those  on  the  Ouabmachis  River; 
and  this  plan  was  carried  out  at  daybreak  the  next  morn- 
ing. Some  Algonkins  escaped  from  their  clutches,  but 
the  greater  part  of  them  were  captured  or  massacred. 


one]         ALGONKINS  AGAINST  THE  IROQUOIS          197 

After  such  an  overthrow,  the  Irroquois  had  no  longer 
anything  to  fear,  finding  themselves  everywhere  victor- 
ious; for  the  few  Algonkins  who  still  remained  were 
not  capable,  [even  if]  united  together,  of  destroying  a 
single  village  of  their  enemies.  All  the  harm  that  they 
could  do  to  the  Irroquois,  therefore,  was  to  knock  on 
the  head  those  whom  they  might  encounter  alone.  They 
entreated  the  Poissons  Blancs  to  aid  them -a  tribe  who, 
with  other  Algonkins,  are  settled  above  the  river  of 
Three  Rivers ;  and  they  induced  a  village  of  Montagnais 
from  the  Saguenay  to  come  to  Sillery.  The  Mikmaks  of 
Accadia  promised  to  aid  them;  the  Nepissings  united 
with  them;  and  all  together  formed  parties  who  num- 
bered four  or  five  hundred  men.  But  the  dissensions 
which  prevailed  among  them  broke  up  all  their  meas- 
ures, and  caused  the  failure  of  everything  that  they  had 
planned;  for,  as  I  have  already  remarked,  the  Algonkins 
have  never  been  willing  to  endure  any  subordination. 
Courage  and  haughtiness  alone  inspire  them  to  action  in 
their  battles,  and  these  traits  have  prevented  them  from 
saving  themselves  in  the  losses  that  they  have  incurred; 
and  although  the  Irroquois  were  much  more  numerous 
the  Algonkins  would  have  routed  them  if  they  had  acted 
in  full  concert,  as  they  are  much  better  warriors  than 
the  Irroquois. 

This  war  continued  until  the  arrival  in  this  country 
of  the  regiment  of  Carignan  [1665].  The  late  Monsieur 
Le  Moine  was  captured  in  the  same  year  by  the  Outa- 
oiias  [sc.  Irroquois],  and  carried  home  by  them.144  For 

144  "This  Le  Moine  of  whom  Perrot  speaks  must  be  the  same  as  Charles  Le 
Moine,  sieur  de  Longueil,  the  head  of  one  of  the  most  illustrious  families  of 
New  France.  In  the  passage  that  concerns  him  I  have  proposed  to  substitute 
the  word  'Irroquois'  for  'Outaouais,'  which  appears  in  the  text.  The  Ottawas, 
friends  of  the  French  and  their  allies  in  the  war  that  was  then  desolating  the 
colony,  could  not  cherish  hostile  intentions  against  one  of  the  bravest  defenders 
of  their  own  cause,  make  him  a  prisoner,  and  condemn  him  to  the  fire.  All 
that  is  very  naturally  explained  [as  occurring]  among  the  Iroquois.  It  is  with- 


i98  NICOLAS   PERROT  [Vol. 

several  years  they  had  already  contemplated  putting  him 
to  death  if  he  happened  to  be  captured.  He  had  great 
personal  courage,  and  was  feared  by  all  the  savages. 
People  have  related  that  one  old  [Irroquois]  woman 
even  dried  pieces  of  bark  for  nearly  ten  years,  in  order  to 
burn  him.  When  he  arrived  [in  their  country]  they 
sentenced  him  to  the  stake ;  but  when  they  were  going  to 
burn  him  one  of  the  leading  men  of  their  tribe  arrived, 
who  obtained  his  deliverance,  and,  accompanied  by  sev- 
eral other  chiefs,  brought  him  to  Montreal. 

On  their  arrival  there  they  saw  Monsieur  de  Cour- 
celles,  governor-general  of  the  country,  and  all  the 
troops  who  had  recently  come  from  France;  and  the 
French  were  eagerly  expecting  Monsieur  de  Tracy,  who 
had  taken  the  route  by  the  islands  of  Guadeloupe -of 
which,  as  well  as  of  this  colony,  his  Majesty  had  ap- 
pointed him  viceroy.  These  Outaoiia  [sc.  Irroquois] 
envoys  were  greatly  astonished  at  seeing  so  many  sol- 
diers, to  whom  orders  were  given  to  divide  their  num- 
bers among  the  settlements,  in  order  to  defend  the  in- 
habitants of  New  France;  and  in  the  same  year  the 
detachments  were  made  that  were  necessary  to  work  on 
the  construction  of  the  forts  at  Sorel  and  Chambly. 

The  Irroquois  ambassadors  reached  Montreal  at  the 
same  time,  in  order  to  make  pretended  negotiations  for 
a  peace  similar  to  those  which  they  had  made  before; 
but  when  they  saw  the  reinforcements  which  had 

out  any  doubt  Charles  Le  Moine  and  his  captivity  to  whom  the  following  pas- 
sage of  the  Relation  of  1666  refers"  (in  chap,  ii,  a  passage  relating  to  a  French 
gentleman  captured  by  the  Iroquois  and  taken  to  their  country,  but  afterward 
released).  -  TAILHAN. 

The  above  conjecture  and  emendation  by  Tailhan  are  entirely  correct 
Charles  le  Moyne  (who  came  to  Canada  about  1641)  was  captured  by  the 
Iroquois  in  1665,  and  escaped  death  as  here  related.  For  his  public  services 
he  was  ennobled  (1668)  by  Louis  XIV.  Among  his  children  were  Pierre,  sieur 
d'Iberville,  and  Jean  Baptiste,  sieur  de  Bienville,  famous  for  the  exploration 
and  first  colonization  of  the  present  Louisiana  and  Mississippi.  —  ED. 


one]         ALGONKINS  AGAINST  THE  IROQUOIS          199 

arrived  in  the  country  they  changed  their  tune  and 
talked  more  sincerely. 

This  news  spread  throughout  all  the  villages  of  the 
savage  tribes.  The  Tsonontouans  and  the  Goyogouans 
united  with  the  Onontagues  to  make  their  peace  with 
the  French,  and  with  the  tribes  down  here,  [which 
lasted]  until  the  war  which  was  waged  against  the 
Tsonontouans. 

IV.     Expeditions  of  the  French  against  the  Irroquois 

The  ambassadors  of  the  Onontagues,  the  Goyogouans, 
and  the  Tsonontouans  declared  that  their  allies  were  not 
willing,  ever  since  that  same  winter,  to  make  peace  with 
us;  this  compelled  Monsieur  de  Courcelles  to  march 
against  them,  at  the  head  of  five  hundred  men  and  a 
considerable  number  of  Canadians.  The  guides  could 
not  discover  the  road  to  their  villages ;  they  led  the  party 
to  Corlard,  where  they  found  only  one  cabin  of  Irro- 
quois [February,  1666].  The  Flemish  Bastard  was  also 
there,  with  a  party  of  Aniez,  whose  chief  he  was.  Some 
skirmishes  took  place  with  the  advanced  posts,  and  many 
gunshots  were  fired  on  both  sides ;  but  the  enemy  were 
repulsed.  The  commander  of  our  troops  left  his  post, 
trying  to  pursue  those  who  had  come  to  attack  him ;  he 
was  thus  left  with  four  men  besides  himself,  without  its 
being  possible  to  succor  him.  Monsieur  de  Courcelles, 
finding  that  he  was  almost  out  of  provisions,  turned 
back  in  retreat  for  the  first  time,  and  was  joined  by  a 
hundred  Algonkins  who,  hunting  in  that  vicinity, 
learned  that  he  was  there,  and  came  to  proffer  him  their 
services ;  but  as  he  was  not  in  a  condition  to  be  able  to 
undertake  anything  against  the  enemy,  he  thanked  them 
and  continued  his  journey. 

This  expedition,  although  it  made  no  progress,  cer- 


200  NICOLAS   PERROT  [Vol. 

tainly  intimidated  the  Aniez  and  Anoyes  [i.e.,  Mo- 
hawks and  Oneidas],  who  had  with  them  some  prisoners 
of  ours -among  them  Monsieur  de  Noirolle,  a  nephew 
of  Monsieur  de  Tracy.  Monsieur  de  Chasy,  his 
cousin,145  was  killed  north  of  the  fort  of  La  Motte  on 
Lake  Champlain.  At  the  end  of  this  campaign  the 
Aniez  held  councils  among  themselves,  and  took  meas- 
ures for  surrendering  the  prisoners  and  demanding 
peace. 

Monsieur  de  Tracy  despatched  in  the  following  sum- 
mer [May,  1666]  a  party  of  three  hundred  men,  French 
and  Algonkins,  who  met  on  the  way  the  Flemish  Bas- 
tard, having  with  him  Monsieur  de  Noirolle  and  three 
other  Frenchmen ;  one  of  these  latter  was  wounded  in 
the  heel,  and  Monsieur  de  Courcelles  recommended 
him,  on  departing,  to  Sieur  Corlard.146  The  French 
and  Algonkins  of  the  advance-guard  seized  and  bound 
the  Flemish  Bastard  and  two  of  his  men;  but  as  soon  as 

145  "Monsieur  de  Chasy  was  the  nephew  and  not  the  cousin  of  Monsieur 
de  Tracy.     Perrot  himself  has  corrected  this   mistake   a   little   farther  on." 

-  TAILHAN. 

Monsieur  de  Tracy's  cousin  is  called  De  Lerole  in  the  "Journal  des  Jesuites." 
Perrot  was  at  that  time  (1665,  1666)  trading  in  Wisconsin,  and,  forty-two 
years  after  these  events,  he  gives  in  this  chapter  of  his  memoir  a  brief  recital 
of  them,  from  memory ;  we  should  therefore  not  be  surprised  that  he  has  fallen 
into  some  errors  as  to  dates.  —  TAILHAN  (additional  note,  p.  341). 

146  "Arendt  van  Corlaer  (Corlar  and  Corlart  in  the  Relations  and  in  Perrot) 
was  about  1640  the  commander  of  a  small  fort  built  by  the  Dutch  six  leagues 
from  Orange  (the  present  Albany,  N.Y.).     The  savages,  and  the  French  fol- 
lowing their  example,  called  by  his  name  at  first  the  post  where  he  had  re- 
sided, and  then  the  governors  (successively  Dutch  and  English)  of  New  Belgium, 
which  later  became  New  York.     One  of  these  latter,  Governor  Dongan,  in  his 
report  of  February  22,  1687,  to  the  Board  of  Trade  explained  this  custom  by 
the  affection  which  this  good  man  had  inspired  in  the  Indians  who  had  deal- 
ings with  him  (Docum.  Hist,  of  New  York,  vol.  i,  156).     Influenced  by  similar 
motives,  the  savages  of  Canada  gave  to  all  the  governors  of  the  colony  the  name 
of  Ononthio  (i.e.,  'great  mountain'),  which  was  only  the  translation  into  their 
language  of  the  name  of  Montmagny,  the  successor  of  Champlain;  they  also 
used  this  epithet  to  designate  the  King,  but  united  with  it  the  adjective  'Great5 
('Great  Ononthio'). "-TAILHAN. 


one]         ALGONKINS  AGAINST  THE  IROQUOIS          201 

the  main  body  of  the  troops  had  arrived  on  the  scene - 
who  had  hastened  their  pace  at  hearing  the  outcries  and 
hootings  of  the  Algonkins- Monsieur  de  Sorel,  the  com- 
mander-in-chief,  made  them  unbind  the  prisoners.  The 
Algonkins  showed  their  discontent  at  this,  and  were 
inclined  to  use  insolent  language  to  the  commander; 
for  they  desired  that  these  Irroquois  should  be  burned. 
But  Monsieur  de  Sorel  answered  them  sharply,  with  so 
much  spirit  and  firmness  that  they  had  no  words  with 
which  to  answer  him.  You  will  note  that  when  these 
men  were  seized  they  declared  that  they  were  coming 
as  ambassadors  to  treat  of  an  adjustment  [of  their  rela- 
tions with  us]  ;  and  that  it  was  for  this  reason  that  Mon- 
sieur de  Sorel  dealt  thus  with  them. 

He  brought  these  ambassadors  with  him  to  Quebec, 
and  presented  them  to  Monsieur  de  Tracy,  who  sent  one 
of  them  back  to  his  own  country  with  a  letter  for  Mon- 
sieur Corlard-in  which  he  assured  him  of  his  promise 
[to  the  Irroquois],  in  order  to  induce  them  all  to  come 
in  security  to  the  colony,  saying  that  they  would  be 
kindly  received  there. 

A  prominent  war-chief  left  the  country  of  the  Aniez 
about  the  same  time- 1  mean,  a  month  before  the  Flem- 
ish Bastard  left  it-having  under  his  command  thirty 
warriors,  who  were  bringing  back  to  Montreal  the 
French  prisoners  whom  they  had.  He  went  with  his 
men  to  encamp  at  the  Prairie  de  la  Magdeleine  (where 
there  was  not  yet  any  settlement) ,  and  found  there  some 
Onontagues  who  had  been  hunting  during  the  winter, 
the  better  to  persuade  the  French  of  the  stability  of  that 
peace  which  they  had  just  concluded  together.  They 
informed  this  newly-arrived  party  that  the  Flemish  Bas- 
tard was  at  Quebec,  in  order  to  conclude  the  peace  there. 

When  this  chief  heard  that  news,  he  would  not  go 


202  NICOLAS   PERROT  [Vol. 

any  farther;  he  allowed  his  party  to  rest  themselves 
there,  and  embarked  with  the  Onontagues,  who  carried 
him  to  Montreal.  When  he  arrived  there  a  batteau  was 
despatched,  in  which  he  took  his  place  to  go  to  Quebec; 
on  his  arrival  there,  he  found  the  peace  concluded.  Mon- 
sieur de  Tracy  received  him  very  kindly,  and  often  had 
him  eat,  with  the  Flemish  Bastard,  at  his  own  table ;  for 
this  chief  was  a  man  of  high  standing  and  esteem  among 
the  savages  of  his  tribe. 

One  day  Monsieur  de  Tracy,  giving  a  dinner,  men- 
tioned at  the  table  how  keenly  he  felt  the  loss  of  Mon- 
sieur his  nephew,  which  had  just  occurred ;  but  said  that 
the  public  good  had,  notwithstanding,  obliged  him  to 
grant  to  the  Flemish  Bastard  the  peace  which  he  had 
asked  for.  That  was  enough  to  make  this  haughty  chief 
of  the  Aniez  understand  the  sorrow  which  Monsieur  de 
Tracy  felt  at  the  death  of  Monsieur  de  Chasy  (whom 
this  chief  had  slain),  and  to  constrain  him,  as  a  matter 
of  propriety,  to  abate  his  arrogance.  But,  far  from 
compassionating  the  grief  which  his  host  made  evident, 
before  him  and  all  the  company  this  chief  raised  his 
arm,  loudly  boasting  that  it  was  his  hand  that  had  broken 
the  youth's  head.  This  preposterous  insolence  broke  off 
the  peace  that  Monsieur  de  Tracy  had  granted  to  the 
Flemish  Bastard;  and,  telling  this  talkative  chief  that 
he  would  never  kill  any  more  Frenchmen,  he  had  him 
seized  and  bound.  Then,  without  placing  him  in  prison, 
he  sent  for  the  executioner,  and  gave  orders  that  the 
murderer  should  be  strangled  in  the  presence  of  the 
Flemish  Bastard;  and  a  little  while  afterward  he  set 
out  [October,  1666],  at  the  head  of  fourteen  hundred 
men -soldiers,  Canadians,  and  Algonkins- accompanied 
by  Monsieur  de  Courcelles,  to  march  against  the  Aniez. 
He  had  left  at  Sorel,  on  the  way,  the  Flemish  Bastard 


one]        ALGONKINS  AGAINST  THE  IROQUOIS          203 

(whom  he  sent  home  after  this  campaign),  who  was 
employed  in  burning  and  throwing  into  the  river  the 
Indian  corn  belonging  to  four  villages ;  as  a  result,  more 
than  four  hundred  souls  died  from  hunger  during  the 
winter.  Those  who  survived  wandered  about  here  and 
there,  and  went  to  beg  for  food  among  the  Onontagues; 
the  latter  refused  to  give  it,  and  jeered  at  them,  telling 
them  that  the  wild  northeast  wind  had  destroyed  their 
grain  through  their  own  fault. 

At  the  end  of  the  campaign  the  Flemish  Bastard  was 
sent  home ;  and  when  he  arrived  there  he  found  entire 
desolation.  The  Aniez  were  continually  imagining  that 
they  had  the  French  in  the  neighborhood  of  their  vil- 
lages ;  they  insisted  that  he  should  retrace  his  steps,  and 
go  back  to  entreat  peace  in  earnest.  With  very  little 
delay,  then,  he  returned  to  Quebec,  where  he  protested, 
with  all  the  guarantees  that  the  French  wished  to  exact 
from  him,  that  he  desired  to  obtain  peace ;  that  he  would 
remain  as  a  hostage;  and  that  he  himself  would  come 
to  live,  with  his  family  in  the  colony,  in  order  to  prove 
the  sincerity  which  led  him  to  come  to  ask  for  peace. 
These  arguments  were  heard  with  favor;  moreover,  he 
did  not  fail  to  fulfil  what  he  had  promised,  for  many  of 
the  same  tribe,  following  his  example,  came  to  settle  at 
Montreal,  without,  however,  cultivating  any  land  there. 
They  dispersed  themselves  from  the  river  of  the  Outa- 
oiias  as  far  as  Creuse  River,  where  the  hunting  of  beaver, 
otter,  elk,  and  moose  is  very  common;  and  they  were 
seen  in  the  spring  and  autumn  seasons  coming  down  to 
the  colony,  laden  with  so  great  a  quantity  of  peltries 
that  the  price  of  these  fell  by  more  than  a  half  in 
France. 


204  NICOLAS    PERROT  [Vol. 

XVII.     Murders  committed  against  Irroquois 

I.     The  first  murder 

Some  soldiers  of  the  Carignan  regiment  took  it  into 
their  heads  to  range  the  woods  with  the  Irroquois,  and  to 
follow  them  everywhere  in  their  hunting  expeditions. 
They  provided  themselves  with  plenty  of  brandy,  and 
went  away  without  telling  this  to  any  one,  making 
known  their  departure  to  one  of  their  officers  only -who 
even  aided  them  in  making  their  preparations  for  this 
trip,  in  the  hope  of  securing  some  share  [of  the  profits] 
therein. 

Five  of  these  soldiers,  who  were  already  accustomed 
to  voyages  of  this  sort,  and  who  knew  the  route  by  this 
[Outaoiias]  river,  and  the  places  where  the  Irroquois 
were  accustomed  to  hunt,  set  out  at  night,  and  arrived 
at  Pointe  Claire  in  Lake  St.  Louis;  and  there  they 
found  an  Irroquois,  who  had  his  canoe  full  of  moose- 
skins.  These  soldiers  asked  him  if  he  would  drink  a 
draught  of  brandy,  but  he  answered  "no."  Seeing,  how- 
ever, that  they  invited  him  to  drink  without  paying  for 
it,  and  without  [apparent]  selfish  motive,  he  accepted 
the  offer  that  they  made  him ;  that  led  him  to  drink  more 
of  the  brandy,  and,  by  dint  of  urging  him,  he  took  so 
much  that  he  became  dead-drunk.  These  soldiers,  see- 
ing that  he  had  lost  his  reason  and  his  senses,  fastened  a 
stone  to  his  neck  and  flung  him  into  the  water,  in  the 
broad  part  of  the  lake.  The  other  Irroquois  who  had 
been  out  hunting  returned  to  Montreal,  and  some  time 
afterward  asked  [these  soldiers]  if  they  had  not  seen 
him,  but  the  latter  answered  "no;"  his  comrades  there- 
fore believed  that  he  had  been  drowned  along  the  rapids 
of  the  Outaoiias  River. 

These  savages,  however,  when  either  going  to  or  re- 


one]  MURDER  OF   IROQUOIS  205 

turning  from  a  hunt,  perceived  a  corpse  floating  on  the 
water- either  because  the  cord  which  served  to  attach 
the  stone  to  his  neck  had  broken,  or  because  the  stone 
was  not  heavy  enough.  They  went  directly  toward  this 
corpse,  and  recognized  the  man  of  whom  there  were  no 
tidings.  They  conveyed  it  to  Montreal,  and  in  the  com- 
plaints that  they  made  they  set  forth  that  in  their  hunt- 
ing parties  there  had  been  no  other  savages  besides 
themselves,  and  that  consequently  there  were  no  others 
than  Frenchmen  who  could  have  slain  their  comrade. 
Close  search  was  made  to  find  the  authors  of  this  deed, 
but  without  success. 

The  soldiers,  after  committing  this  murder,  carried 
the  peltries  in  the  night  to  their  officer,  and  made  him 
believe  that  they  had  been  trading  with  some  Irroquois 
who  were  returning  from  their  hunt.  This  officer  gave 
the  hides  in  payment  to  some  person ;  for  it  was  the  cus- 
tom in  the  country  to  use  peltries  instead  of  money.147 
The  person  who  obtained  them  from  this  officer  had 
likewise  given  them  to  some  one  else,  and  in  this  man- 
ner they  had  passed  through  several  hands.  It  hap- 
pened that  a  Frenchman,  having  one  of  them,  carried 
it  to  the  house  of  a  merchant,  at  which  were  present  some 
Irroquois;  and  they  recognized  it  by  the  special  mark 
which  each  of  them  places  on  his  own  pelts.  Imme- 
diately they  seized  it,  in  order  to  carry  it  to  the  com- 
mandant of  the  city.  The  Frenchman  was  summoned, 

147  Regarding  the  use  of  peltries  as  money,  see  Jesuit  Relations,  vol.  ix,  173- 
177,  205 ;  xxi,  123 ;  xxii,  241 ;  xxxvii,  71 ;  Ix,  291,  305 ;  Ixix,  127,  245-249,  259- 
263.  See  also  J.  R.  Swanton's  article  "Exchange"  in  Handbook  Amer.  Indians, 
where  he  enumerates  the  chief  articles  used  among  the  aborigines  as  standards 
of  value,  with  their  equivalents  in  money,  etc.  The  beaver  pelt  was  "the  basis 
of  all  trade  between  the  French  of  Canada  and  the  Indians,"  from  the  beginning 
of  that  intercourse ;  and  in  the  great  fur  regions  of  Canada  it  also  remained 
such  between  the  English  and  the  Indians.  "Up  to  the  present  time  everything 
is  valued  in  'skins,'  meaning  beaver  skins;  but  the  term  has  come  to  have  a 
fixed  value  of  fifty  cents  in  Canadian  money."  —  ED. 


206  NICOLAS   PERROT  [Vol. 

and  questioned  to  ascertain  from  whom  he  had  received 
this  hide ;  and  he  named  the  person  who  had  given  it  to 
him.  He  too  was  sent  for,  and  likewise  named  the 
person  from  whom  he  had  received  it;  and  by  this  means 
it  was  learned  that  the  hide  had  come  in  the  first  place 
from  the  house  where  the  officer  lived.  Search  was 
made  there,  and  many  hides  with  the  same  mark  were 
found  in  it,  which  were  recognized  as  the  property  of 
the  murdered  savage.  These  proofs  left  no  further 
reason  to  doubt  that  he  had  been  slain  by  some  soldiers. 
At  that  time,  those  soldiers  had  gone  away  again  to  trade 
in  brandy  on  the  Outaoiias  River,  after  having  repaid 
to  the  officer  the  first  advance,  also  the  last  one,  that  he 
made  them,  by  the  remainder  of  the  plunder  from  the 
Irroquois  whom  they  had  murdered.  Orders  were 
given  to  the  officer  to  arrest  these  men  as  soon  as  they 
should  return,  or  to  notify  [the  commandant],  in  order 
to  punish  them  and  render  justice  to  the  Irroquois;  for 
already  the  latter  were  heard  to  utter  their  discontent. 
They  intimated  that  their  indignation  was  great  enough 
to  renew  the  war,  if  there  had  been  a  failure  to  render 
them  satisfaction  for  this  murder. 

II.     Justice  rendered  to  the  Irroquois  for  the  above- 
mentioned  murder 

The  authors  of  this  crime,  not  having  any  shelter 
more  certain  than  the  house  of  their  officer,  arrived 
there  in  the  night;  they  were  arrested  there,  and  thrown 
into  prison.  The  military  council  having  assembled  to 
try  their  case,  they  confessed  at  the  first  interrogation 
the  crime  of  which  they  were  accused ;  and  all  five  were 
condemned  to  be  put  to  death,  in  the  presence  of  the 
Irroquois. 

They  were  led  out,  and  all  five  were  bound  each  to  a 


one]  MURDER  OF   IROQUOIS  207 

post.  The  Irroquois  were  astonished  at  the  ample  jus- 
tice that  was  rendered  to  them,  and  entreated  mercy  for 
four  of  them  ;  because,  as  they  had  lost  only  one  man,  it 
was  not  just,  they  said,  to  kill  five  for  him,  but  one 
only  [ought  to  die].  They  were  given  to  understand  that 
the  five  were  equally  criminal,  and  without  any  excep- 
tion merited  death.  The  Irroquois,  who  were  not  ex- 
pecting so  extensive  a  satisfaction,  redoubled  their  en- 
treaties to  obtain  mercy  for  four,  and  for  this  purpose 
made  presents  of  porcelain  collars;  but  the  French  did 
not  listen  to  them,  and  all  five  men  were  shot  to  death 


The  justice  which  on  this  occasion  was  rendered  to 
the  Irroquois  was  published  in  all  their  villages,  whose 
people  [therefore]  had  great  confidence  in  the  French; 
and  many  of  their  families,  influenced  by  so  splendid  a 
reparation,  came  down  into  the  colony  and  remained 
there,  [attracted]  by  the  abundance  of  game  and  the 
other  necessities  of  life  that  they  found  there  for  living 
comfortably. 

III.     Another  murder 

Some  years  afterward  eleven  Irroquois  were  hunting 
south  of  the  Lake  of  Two  Mountains,  toward  the  end  of 
the  island  of  Montreal,  and  carried  on  trade  with  a 
merchant  who  went  to  find  them  there.  This  trader  took 
with  him  a  very  intelligent  Canadian,  who  was  thor- 
oughly acquainted  with  the  language  of  the  Irroquois, 
and  was  highly  esteemed  by  them.  These  Irroquois, 
having  found  out  where  his  lodging  was,  went  to  visit 
him;  he  entertained  them,  and  assured  them  that  he 
would  not  fail  to  visit  them  in  their  winter  camp.  He 
did  not  forget  this  ;  for  he  set  out  one  day,  accompanied 
by  a  merchant  and  his  servant,  and  reached  the  camp. 
All  three  were  very  hospitably  received,  and  all  the 


208  NICOLAS   PERROT  [Vol. 

more  cordially  because  they  had  taken  care  to  carry  with 
them  some  brandy,  of  which  they  made  a  present  to  the 
savages.  The  Irroquois  having  drunk  it  until  they  had 
lost  their  wits,  the  Frenchmen  murdered  them  for  the 
sake  of  plundering  them.  This  murder  was  discovered, 
and  the  murderers,  having  been  warned  by  their  friends 
to  be  gone,  escaped  so  well,  each  in  his  own  way,  that 
it  was  impossible  to  arrest  them.148 

148  "As  these  two  murders  were  committed  in  the  course  of  a  single  year 
(Relation  of  1670,  chap,  vi,  5x;  Charlevoix,  Histoire,  vol.  i,  425,  426),  Perrot's 
'few  years'  must  necessarily  be  changed  to  'few  months.'  These  abominable 
crimes,  occurring  successively  in  a  colony  where  until  then  they  had  been  un- 
known, must  have  made  certain  governors  of  that  time  understand  how  fatal 
was  this  trade  in  brandy,  which  they  stubbornly  protected  through  a  false 
policy,  and  especially  through  opposition  to  the  ecclesiastical  authority,  which 
forbade  that  trade.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  the  most  evident  result  of  this  in- 
famous commerce  has  always  been  the  demoralization  of  the  Europeans  who 
conducted  it,  and  the  degradation,  ruin,  and  death  of  the  savages.  Accordingly, 
the  honorable  and  Protestant  Company  of  Hudson  Bay,  actuated  by  higher 
motives  than  those  blind  and  jealous  Catholic  [governors],  has  for  many  years 
absolutely  prohibited  the  brandy  trade  throughout  the  extent  of  the  immense 
regions  subject  to  its  jurisdiction.  And  it  has  been  possible,  since  then,  to 
establish  a  period  of  halt  in  the  movement  of  depopulation  which  threatened 
to  bring,  before  long,  the  complete  extinction  of  the  aboriginal  tribes  (Missions 
de  Quebec,  tenth  report,  36,  107;  thirteenth  report,  137).  I  have  spoken  of 
demoralization,  ruin,  and  death;  but  there  is  no  exaggeration  in  this  language. 
The  reader  may  judge  of  this  by  the  following  extract  from  an  anonymous 
document  addressed  in  1705  to  the  Comte  de  Pomchartrain  (Memoire  historique 
sur  les  mauvais  effets  de  la  reunion  des  castors  dans  une  meme  main;  this  docu- 
ment is  found  in  the  Archives  of  the  Marine) :  'There  are  many  of  these 
coureurs  de  hois  who,  with  the  view  to  enrich  themselves  all  at  once,  make 
nearly  all  their  commerce  center  around  the  brandy-trade.  Every  one  knows 
the  passion  of  the  savages  for  this  liquor,  and  the  fatal  effects  that  it  produces 
on  them.  Experience,  as  old  as  the  Colony,  teaches  us  that  they  drink  it  only 
to  intoxicate  themselves,  without  having  ever  been  able  to  understand  by  what 
fatal  charm  this  surprising  effect  can  be  produced.  The  village  or  the  cabin  in 
which  the  savages  drink  brandy  is  an  image  of  hell :  fire  [i.e.,  burning  brands  or 
coals  flung  by  the  drunkards]  flies  in  all  directions;  blows  with  hatchets  and 
knives  make  the  blood  flow  on  all  sides;  and  all  the  place  resounds  with  fright- 
ful yells  and  cries.  They  bite  off  each  other's  noses,  and  tear  away  their  ears ; 
wherever  their  teeth  are  fixed,  they  carry  away  the  morsel  [of  flesh].  The 
father  and  the  mother  throw  their  babes  upon  the  hot  coals  or  into  the  boiling 
kettles.  They  commit  a  thousand  abominations  —  the  mother  with  her  sons, 
the  father  with  his  daughters,  the  brothers  with  their  sisters.  They  roll  about 
on  the  cinders  and  coals,  and  in  blood.  In  this  frightful  condition  they  fall 


one]  MURDER   OF   IROQUOIS  209 

The  Irroquois,  [knowing]  the  close  search  that  was 
being  made  everywhere  in  order  to  render  them  justice, 
and  no  longer  doubting  that  the  French  were  in  earnest, 

asleep  among  one  another;  the  fumes  of  the  brandy  pass  away,  and  the  next 
morning  they  awake  disfigured,  dejected,  and  bewildered  at  the  disorder  in 
which  they  find  themselves.  Entirely  savage  as  they  are,  they  nevertheless  feel 
horrified  at  their  condition;  and  many  of  them  repent,  and  form  the  resolution 
to  drink  no  more  in  future.  Some  Frenchmen,  unworthy  to  bear  that*  name, 
solicit  them  to  begin  again.  The  latter  find  immense  profits  in  this  infamous 
commerce,  because,  when  they  have  once  intoxicated  the  savages,  they  plunder 
them  of  even  the  clothes,  weapons,  and  other  articles  which  they  had  previously 
sold  to  the  savages.  Some  of  these  Frenchmen  have  been  known  to  acknowledge, 
with  sorrow  and  tokens  of  repentance,  that  they  had  obtained  more  than  15,000 
livres'  worth  of  beaver-skins  with  a  single  cask  of  brandy  which  did  not  cost 
them  zco  livres;  but  that,  while  returning  from  their  voyages,  their  cabin  had 
taken  fire  while  they  were  asleep,  and  all  their  beaver-skins  and  the  rest  of  their 
equipment  were  consumed.  There  are,  besides,  a  hundred  instances  of  the 
curse  of  God  on  those  who  carry  on  this  odious  commerce ;  and  not  one  of  them 
is  known  whose  affairs  have  ended  prosperously.  .  .  His  Majesty  has,  at 
various  times,  issued  wise  regulations  opposed  to  this  evil  commerce ;  but  avarice, 
greed  for  gain,  jealousy  of  authority,  and  false  policy,  have  always  found 
means  to  elude  them."  These  disorders,  with  the  same  features,  are  still  repro- 
duced to-day  wherever  the  dealers  in  strong  liquors  can  penetrate.  See  what 
was  written  in  1839  by  a  missionary  on  the  Missouri,  who  cannot  be  suspected 
of  having  drawn  his  inspiration  from  the  preceding  memoir:  'The  deplorable 
excess  in  liquors  .  .  .  will  end,  I  fear,  by  entailing  the  total  ruin  of  the 
tribe;  for  war,  pestilence,  and  famine  are  its  inevitable  results.  Some  Ameri- 
cans without  conscience  are  inundating  the  country  with  their  fatal  liquors ;  and 
the  government,  which  alone  can  put  an  end  to  a  traffic  so  immoral,  thus  far  has 
opposed  it  only  by  severe  laws,  but  not  with  efficacious  measures.  .  .  One 
must  be  a  witness  to  the  orgies  of  these  people  in  order  to  understand  to  what 
excess  their  brutal  passion  can  carry  them.  Once  the  bounds  of  temperance  are 
passed,  their  blood  is  inflamed,  and  a  sort  of  rage  consumes  them.  .  .  At  first 
there  are  songs  of  joy,  but  soon  arise  cries  and  yells,  followed  by  altercations.  A 
combat  is  begun  with  the  strokes  of  knives,  and  ended  with  blows  from  clubs. 
Very  often  blood  is  mingled  with  their  libations,  and  murder  seasons  the  feast 
Above  all  else,  the  combatants  strive  to  cut  off  each  other's  noses;  it  is  for  them 
an  exploit  of  which  they  boast*  (Annales  de  la  propagation  de  la  Foi,  vol.  xiii, 
52,  53).  Cf.  J.  Long's  Voyage  and  Travels,  97,  in,  of  the  French  translation 
(Paris,  the  year  II).  For  the  rest,  the  savages  are  under  no  illusion  as  to 
the  real  cause  of  their  degradation  and  their  misfortunes.  Once  some  agent 
(I  forget  his  name)  of  the  President  of  the  United  States  assembled  in  council 
the  Ouinipegous  or  Puans,  that  he  might  make  known  to  them  the  order  to 
quit  their  ancient  abodes  —  where,  it  was  claimed,  they  had  become  a  permanent 
cause  of  trouble  and  scandal  by  their  bad  conduct.  The  great  orator  and  head 
chief  of  the  tribe  made  a  speech,  and  said,  among  other  very  sensible  remarks: 
'In  order  to  avoid  being  just  toward  us,  they  accuse  us  of  being  the  most  per- 


210  NICOLAS   PERROT  [Vol. 

on  account  of  the  complete  satisfaction  that  had  been 
made  to  them  in  the  case  of  the  preceding  murder,  mani- 
fested no  resentment  for  this  last  crime.  They  still  con- 
tinued to  hunt  along  the  Outaoiias  River,  having  with 
them  some  Frenchmen  who  carried  on  a  good  business 
[in  trading  with  them],  and  of  whom  they  took  excellent 
care.  They  requested  more  Frenchmen  from  Monsieur 
de  Courcelles,  in  order  that,  if  some  Outaoiias  came 
down  [to  the  colony]  who  were  ignorant  of  the  peace, 
no  strife  or  bloodshed  might  occur. 

XVIII.     Terror  of  the  Outaoiias  at  the  sight 

of  the  Irroquois  who  were  hunting 

along  the  river 

More  than  nine  hundred  Outaoiias  came  down  to 
Montreal  in  canoes ; 149  in  this  number  there  were  five  of 
us  Frenchmen  [1670].  It  must  be  understood  that  in 
that  period  those  peoples  [of  the  upper  country]  were 
very  cowardly,  and  little  used  to  war.  While  on  our 
voyage  we  found,  past  [Lake]  Nepissing,  some  Nep- 
issing  canoes  which  were  coming  back  from  Montreal ; 
this  induced  us  to  stop  and  encamp,  in  order  to  get  some 

verse  people  under  the  sun.  If  this  reproach  were  cast  at  us  by  Indians,  I 
would  show  that  it  is  exaggerated;  but  it  is  the  white  men  who  apply  it  to  us, 
and  I  confine  myself  to  replying  that  the  blame  recoils  on  them.  Why  impute 
to  us  vices  which  you  yourselves  have  encouraged?  Why  do  you  come  to  the 
very  doors  of  our  cabins  to  tempt  us  with  your  brandy,  so  destructive  to  our 
tribe  ?  If  there  are  crimes  committed  among  us,  it  is  the  result  of  drunkenness ; 
and  who  makes  us  drunken?  Who?  they  are  greedy  men,  who  sell  us  poison 
and  plunder  us  to  pay  for  it'  (Annales  de  la  propagation  de  la  Foi,  vol.  xvii, 
490).  In  fact,  brandy  is  for  the  savages  a  veritable  poison;  strychnine  or 
arsenic  would  kill  them  more  quickly,  but  not  more  surely."  — TAILHAN. 

1*9  "The  Ottawa  fleet,  according  to  the  Relation  of  1679  (chap,  i),  comprised 
only  ninety  canoes,  manned  by  four  hundred  men.  That  is  very  different  from 
the  nine  hundred  Ottawas  of  Perrot.  But  it  is  easy  to  explain  this  disagreement, 
more  apparent  than  real,  by  regarding  these  ninety  canoes  as  a  part  of  the 
entire  fleet  — which  we  are  authorized  to  do  by  the  phrase  'the  last  bands,' 
which  the  Relation  uses  to  designate  them."  —  TAILHAN. 


one]  TERROR  OF  THE  OUTAOUAS  211 

news  from  the  colony.  They  assured  us  that  there  were 
several  bands  of  Irroquois,  escorted  by  some  Frenchmen, 
who  were  hunting  in  the  vicinity  of  the  river,  and  who 
had  given  them  a  very  hospitable  reception,  offering 
them  provisions  to  refresh  themselves.  That  large  body 
[of  Outaoiias],  in  their  apprehension,  were  already 
afraid  of  what  has  just  been  related,  and  even  were 
ready  to  give  up  [their  journey]  ;  but,  as  the  Outaouas 
had  great  confidence  in  me  and  looked  on  me  as  their 
friend,  I  persuaded  them  to  continue  their  voyage  - 
except  some  canoes  of  Saulteurs,  Missisakis,  and  Kiris- 
tinons  who  slipped  away  and  returned  to  their  own 
homes.  When  we  had  descended  the  Calumets  we  met, 
a  little  below  the  [rapids  of  the]  Chats,  Monsieur  de  la 
Salle,150  who  was  hunting  with  five  or  six  Frenchmen 
and  ten  or  twelve  Irroquois. 

That  great  fleet  of  Outaouas  appeared  already  shak- 
ing with  terror  at  this  sight,  and  desired  to  give  up  their 
voyage  entirely  on  hearing  the  report  made  by  the 
Frenchmen,  who  told  them  that  there  were  still  several 
other  bands  of  Irroquois  who  were  hunting  farther 
down  [the  river].  I  could  not  prevent  myself  then  from 
reproaching  them  for  their  cowardice;  and,  having  re- 
assured them,  they  continued  their  route,  for  there  was 
not  room  [in  that  place]  for  their  camp.  It  was  there- 

iso  "Robert  Cavelier  de  la  Salle,  who  was  born  at  Rouen  in  1633,  and  died 
at  the  hand  of  an  assassin  in  Texas,  March  16,  1687,  played  a  very  important 
part  in  New  France.  At  first  a  Jesuit,  then  a  voyageur,  he  was  still  but  little 
known  when  (in  1670)  he  was  encountered  by  Perrot  on  the  shore  of  the  Ottawa. 
He  had,  however,  in  the  preceding  year  been  the  first  to  descend  the  Ohio 
River,  as  far  as  the  falls  which  interrupt  its  navigation  (Margry,  'Leu  Nor- 
mands  dans  1'Ohio  et  le  Mississippi,'  Journal  general  de  ['instruction  publique, 
supp.,  August  20,  1862).  Thirteen  years  later  (1682)  he  finished  the  discovery 
of  the  Mississippi,  commenced  by  Joliet  and  Father  Marquette  in  1673." 
Margry  maintains  (ut  supra}  that  La  Salle  had  preceded  them  in  this  discovery, 
but  this  assertion  seems  inadmissible ;  and  various  contemporary  documents  and 
reliable  historians  are  cited  to  disprove  it.  —  TAILHAN. 


212  NICOLAS   PERROT  [Vol. 

fore  necessary  to  paddle  all  night,  and  to  leave  all  the 
loaded  canoes  afloat,  in  order  that  we  might  proceed 
the  next  morning.  Two  hours  before  daylight,  all  the 
fleet  in  departing  took  the  broad  part  of  the  river,  and 
slipped  along  about  daylight  without  making  any  noise. 
We  had  in  the  early  morning  a  heavy  fog,  so  dense  that 
it  prevented  us  from  seeing  our  canoes;  but  the  sun  in 
rising  scattered  it,  and  we  observed  opposite  us  a  camp 
of  seven  Irroquois,  with  whom  were  five  or  six  soldiers. 

At  that  time  the  greater  part  of  the  Outaoiias  had  al- 
ready gone  past  [this  camp].  The  Irroquois  did  not 
move  from  their  fires ;  it  was  only  the  Frenchmen  who 
came  toward  us  and  called  to  us;  but  not  one  of  the 
canoes  would  halt;  on  the  contrary,  they  exerted  them- 
selves to  paddle  more  vigorously.  Nevertheless,  I  com- 
pelled the  canoe  in  which  I  was  to  land.  The  soldiers 
made  me  eat  and  drink  with  them;  my  canoemen  were 
continually  urging  me  to  embark,  for  it  was  a  long  day's 
work  that  we  must  perform.  The  sun  was  about  to  set 
when  the  main  body  came  down  in  a  line  along  the 
rapids.  My  canoe  was  among  the  foremost  in  our  group 
of  thirty -of  which  some  had  come  to  land,  and  others 
were  yet  on  the  water.  There  were  also  some  in  the 
rapids,  who  could  not  ascend,  or  force  their  way  against 
the  current,  for  whom  we  must  wait. 

Two  leagues  farther  down,  repeated  volleys  of  mus- 
ket-shots were  fired,  the  smoke  from  which  we  saw  rise 
in  the  air.  This  alarm  constrained  all  the  Outaoiias  to 
range  themselves  in  a  squadron,  and  those  who  had 
landed  felt  obliged  to  reembark,  despite  all  that  I  could 
do  to  prevent  them,  and  they  overtook  the  main  body. 
They  made  the  resolution  to  abandon  everything  and 
take  to  flight;  and  I  did  all  in  my  power  to  dissuade 
them  from  this  course.  The  men  in  my  canoe  were  al- 


one]  TERROR  OF  THE  OUTAOUAS  213 

ready  unnerved  [by  their  terror].  I  hastened  to  meet 
them  all,  and  proposed  to  them  to  give  me  a  canoe,  so 
that  I  could  take  the  lead  and  go  to  the  place  where 
the  guns  were  fired;  and  I  urged  on  the  Frenchmen 
(who  were  no  less  overcome  by  fear  than  were  the  sav- 
ages) to  accompany  me.  I  endeavored  to  make  them 
recover  from  the  terror  that  had  seized  them,  by  assur- 
ing them  that  the  Irroquois,  as  a  proof  of  their  sincerity, 
had  some  Frenchmen  with  them.  I  gained  the  front  of 
the  main  fleet,  and  managed  so  well  that  they  consented 
to  follow  me.  As  my  canoe  neared  land,  toward  even- 
ing, the  Irroquois  fired  a  last  volley,  in  order  to  salute 
us.  Most  of  the  Outaoiias,  on  recognizing  that  it  was 
only  to  pay  us  honors  that  the  guns  were  fired,  recovered 
their  courage  and  came  to  land,  but  without  unloading 
their  peltries.  This  band  was  composed  of  twelve  Irro- 
quois, who  had  with  them  two  soldiers  from  Montreal, 
whom  I  knew.  The  Outaoiias  were  still  trembling,  and 
were  resolved  to  travel  all  night  until  they  could  reach 
the  first  French  houses,  not  believing  themselves  safe 
among  these  dozen  Irroquois -who  without  doubt 
would  have  been  very  friendly  and  entertained  them, 
if  they  had  had  some  game  to  give  them. 

When  the  Outaoiias  saw  the  Irroquois  asleep,  they  all 
embarked  about  midnight,  and  my  canoe  alone  re- 
mained. My  canoemen,  however,  did  not  cease  to  call 
me,  in  order  that  I  should  [also]  embark;  but  I  was 
sleeping  so  soundly,  with  those  two  Frenchmen,  that  I 
did  not  hear  the  summons.  One  of  my  canoemen  ven- 
tured to  come  to  awaken  me,  but  so  gently  that  you 
would  have  said  that  he  was  going  to  surprise  a  sentinel. 
He  whispered  in  my  ear  that  it  was  time  to  embark,  and 
that  the  entire  fleet  was  already  far  ahead.  I  immediate- 
ly arose,  in  order  to  go  with  him ;  and  at  daybreak  it  was 


214  NICOLAS   PERROT 

apparently  [still]  out  of  our  sight.  They  all  paddled 
vigorously,  and  did  not  wait  for  us  until  they  reached 
the  Grande  Anse,  in  Lake  St.  Louis.  About  two  hours 
after  noon,  we  set  out  to  go  to  Montreal,  and  then  the 
Outaoiias  began  to  take  breath  and,  when  we  reached 
that  place,  to  feel  that  they  were  entirely  safe.151 

XIX.     Sedition  stirred  up,  in  an  unexpected 
manner,  by  the  Outaoiias  at  Montreal. 

The  trading  of  the  Outaoiias  with  the  French  was  well 
advanced  (it  was  usually  carried  on  in  the  town-hall  of 
Montreal,  where  they  are  accustomed  to  display  their 
merchandise),  when  it  happened  that  a  savage  of  the 
above-named  people  stole  some  article  from  a  French 
soldier,  without  the  latter  being  aware  of  it.  The  senti- 
nel-who  had  orders  to  keep  watch  on  those  who  were 
trading,  in  order  that  they  might  not  be  molested,  and 
that  no  mischief  be  done -saw  the  theft  committed;  he 
notified  the  man  to  whom  the  wrong  had  just  been  done, 
who  immediately  rushed  upon  the  thief  and  tried  to 
snatch  from  him  some  fragments  of  beaver-skin  that  he 
held.  The  savage  resisted  him,  the  sentinel  advanced  in 
order  to  check  those  who  had  tried  to  strike  the  savage, 
and  presented  the  end  of  his  gun  in  order  to  hold  back 
the  people  who  were  trying  to  rush  on  him  in  a  crowd. 
The  sentinel  urged  the  savage  to  give  back  what  he  had 
seen  him  take.  Many  of  the  lookers-on  thought  that  men 
had  been  wantonly  knocked  down,  and  undertook  to  rush 
headlong  upon  the  soldier;  and  they  actually  took  away 
his  gun.  When  he  saw  that  he  was  disarmed,  he  drew 
his  sword.  The  man  who  had  committed  the  theft  tried 
to  grasp  him  and  take  away  his  sword,  but,  as  he  could 

151  "La  Potherie  gives  (Histoire,  vol.  ii,  114-120)  a  much  more  circumstantial 
relation  of  this  voyage."  —  TAILHAN. 


JURISDICTION  OF  MONTREAL 


OUTAOUAS  STIR  UP  SEDITION  217 

not  accomplish  this,  he  received  a  sword-blow  on  his 
arm.  Then  the  soldier  turned  the  point  of  his  weapon 
toward  every  one  who  attempted  to  come  near  him. 
Immediately  the  Outaoiias  came  up,  with  their  arms  in 
their  hands.  I  also  hastened  to  the  place  as  soon  as  I 
possibly  could;  several  chiefs  with  whom  I  was  ac- 
quainted joined  me ;  and  we  checked  the  outbreak  that 
was  beginning. 

Monsieur  de  la  Motte,152  a  man  of  courage  and  honor, 
was  then  in  command  at  Montreal;  his  company  was 
the  only  one  of  the  Carignan  regiment  that  remained  in 
the  country.  Having  been  notified  that  all  his  soldiers 
and  those  of  the  [militia]  guard  were  in  the  town-hall, 
he  ordered  the  drums  to  beat  to  call  them  together;  and 
he  marched  at  the  head  of  the  troops,  in  order  to  oblige 
every  one  to  perform  his  duty;  but  when  he  arrived,  the 
riot  was  quelled.  He  perceived  (without  knowing  me) 
that  I  was  talking  energetically  to  the  savages,  and  easily 
recognized  that  I  understood  their  language.  He  spoke 
to  me,  inquiring  where  the  chiefs  were;  I  showed  them 
to  him,  and  he  at  once  had  them  arrested  and  led  to  his 
house ;  I  contrived  to  follow  them,  so  as  to  learn  the  out- 
come of  this  affair.  At  the  same  time  all  the  soldiers  of 
the  garrison,  who  in  all  numbered  sixty  men,  were  sta- 
tioned along  the  palisades;  they  were  commanded  by  a 
sergeant,  who  had  orders  to  fire  on  the  first  Outaoiias 
who  might  seem  to  be  attempting  any  disturbance. 

A  [certain]  person  of  high  standing,  who  desired  to 
go  up  to  the  Outaoiia  country  by  availing  himself  of  the 
return  of  this  fleet,  was  present.  Monsieur  de  la  Motte 
asked  him  to  inquire  from  these  people,  in  their  own 

152  "Monsieur  de  la  Motte  (or  Mothe),  captain  in  the  regiment  of  Carignan- 
Sallieres,  came  to  Canada  in  1665  with  his  regiment.  In  that  same  year,  or  at 
the  beginning  of  the  following  one,  he  built  Fort  Sainte-Anne  on  one  of  the 
islands  of  Lake  Champlain  (Relation  of  1666,  chap,  iii),  and  was  slain  in  a 
battle  with  the  Iroquois,  September  22,  1690."  — TAILHAN. 


218  NICOLAS   PERROT  [Vol. 

language,  what  reason  they  had  for  stirring  up  such  a 
tumult.  They  made  their  complaint,  with  an  artless  re- 
lation of  the  truth;  but  this  new  interpreter  repeated  it 
[to  la  Motte]  otherwise,  in  order  to  gratify  the  savages, 
and  made  it  appear  that  in  reality  the  soldier  was  to 
blame  for  the  whole  affair.  Monsieur  de  la  Motte  - 
who  had  long  been  a  captain,  and  whose  services  com- 
manded respect -ordered  the  second  sergeant  of  his  com- 
pany to  go  to  find  the  sentinel,  and  to  have  him  imme- 
diately placed  on  the  wooden  horse,153  with  weights  of 
two  hundred  pounds  on  his  feet. 

As  I  had  heard  that  the  savage  blamed  himself  in 
what  he  had  just  related,  and  that  he  had  frankly  ad- 
mitted how  the  affair  had  occurred,  I  could  not  refrain 
from  making  protest  at  this;  and  I  stoutly  declared 
that,  according  to  the  very  deposition  which  the  savage 
had  just  made,  the  soldier  was  innocent,  and  that  he  did 
not  deserve  the  punishment  that  had  been  decreed,  since 
the  interpreter  had  explained  the  matter  otherwise  than 
it  [really]  was.  Monsieur  de  la  Motte,  irritated  at  the 
soldier,  hastily  walked  into  his  own  room  without  pay- 
ing any  attention  to  what  I  had  just  said.  I  repeated 
once  more  [the  real  truth  of]  the  case,  and  made  the 
ensign  of  the  company  listen  to  me.  The  interpreter, 
without  seeming  to  hear  me,  mistrusted  that  the  officer 
would  not  fail  to  relate  and  explain  the  matter  to  Mon- 
sieur de  la  Motte ;  so  he  immediately  burst  into  a  pas- 
sion and  inveighed  against  me,  and  demanded  justice  for 

163  Referring  to  an  instrument  of  torture  known  as  the  che<valet  —  "a.  sort  of 
•wooden  horse  with  a  sharp  back,  on  which  soldiers  who  had  committed  dis- 
orderly acts  were  placed  with  cannon-balls  attached  to  their  feet"  (Littre).  It 
was  a  cruel  punishment,  and  men  sometimes  received  serious  physical  injuries 
from  it.  In  this  connection,  note  the  curious  statement  (London  Weekly  Times, 
Dec.  14,  1909)  that  on  Dec.  14,  1909,  the  Manx  legislative  council  "struck  out 
the  proposal  to  repeal  the  obsolete  ecclesiastical  ordinance  that  children  pulling 
horses'  tails  should  be  set  on  a  wooden  horse  for  two  hours  and  whipped."  —  ED. 


one]  OUTAOUAS  STIR  UP  SEDITION  219 

the  contradiction  which  I  had  just  given  him  in  regard 
to  the  false  interpretation.  I  walked  up  to  him,  in  the 
presence  of  Monsieur  de  la  Motte,  and  maintained 
that  he  had  wrongly  explained  the  statement  of  the  sav- 
age; that  I  understood  the  savage  language;  and  that 
this  person,  in  interpreting  it,  had  not  stated  what  the 
savage  had  just  confessed. 

Monsieur  de  la  Motte,  who  had  suspended  his  judg- 
ment in  regard  to  the  soldier,  sent  for  him  and,  after 
interrogating  him,  ordered  him  to  state  exactly  how  the 
whole  affair  had  occurred.  He  made  the  same  relation 
that  the  savage  had  given,  and  in  the  manner  that  I  have 
just  stated.  Monsieur  de  la  Motte  then  turned  to  the 
person  who  had  not  told  the  truth  about  it,  and  contented 
himself  with  making  some  remarks  to  humiliate  him; 
and  then  he  sent  away  the  soldier  and  the  chiefs  whom 
he  had  placed  under  arrest. 

The  trading  of  the  Outaoiias  was  nearing  its  end  when 
a  canoe  arrived  at  Montreal  sent  by  Monsieur  de  Cour- 
celles,  with  orders  to  send  down  to  Quebec  all  the  chiefs 
of  that  people,  and  those  of  the  Irroquois,  in  order  to 
conclude  the  peace  between  them. 

Monsieur  de  la  Motte,  having  received  these  orders, 
sent  for  me  and  ordered  me  to  embark  with  the  Outa- 
oiias, who  made  objections  to  going;  but  they  were 
obliged  to  obey,  against  their  will.  The  Irroquois  did 
not  seem  to  feel  any  repugnance  to  going. 

When  the  Outaoiia  chiefs  found  that  they  were  forced 
to  embark  in  the  vessel  assigned  for  their  voyage,  they 
sent  all  their  people  back  to  their  homes,  and  had  their 
own  canoes  follow  them.  An  officer  and  twelve  soldiers 
were  commanded  to  escort  them  as  far  as  the  place  where 
we  made  our  first  encampment  after  leaving  Montreal. 
They  entreated  me  to  ask  the  officer  that  they  might  be 


220  NICOLAS   PERROT  [Vol. 

permitted  to  embark  in  their  own  canoes,  to  which  he 
consented;  and  we  arrived  safely  at  Quebec  [July, 
1670].  There  the  friends  of  the  man  to  whom  I  had 
given  the  lie  at  Montreal  made  every  effort  to  make 
trouble  for  me  with  Monsieur  de  Courcelles,  and  to  pre- 
vent me  from  being  the  interpreter  [in  the  peace  confer- 
ence]. But  Monsieur  de  la  Motte  had  written  [to  him] 
in  my  favor,  and  guaranteed  my  reliability  and  fidelity, 
so  that  my  enemies  received  no  hearing.  There  was 
some  person  who  tried  to  find  fault  with  the  interpreta- 
tion that  I  had  made,  and  to  insist  that  it  was  not  correct; 
but  he  was  entirely  put  to  confusion  in  this  attempt,  for 
my  version  was  generally  received  as  truthful. 

XX.     Arrival  of  the  Intendant  Monsieur  de 

Talon,  having  orders  to  cause  the  insignia 

of  France  to  be  planted  in  the  country 

of  the  Outaouas,  and  to  take  possession 

of  it  in  the  name  of  the  Icing 

The  first  ships  from  France  arrived  at  Quebec  while 
all  the  chiefs  were  there.  Monsieur  de  Courcelles  re- 
ceived letters  from  Monsieur  de  Talon,  who  wrote  to 
him  how  serviceable  it  was  to  secure  some  Frenchmen 
who  had  gone  among  the  Outaouas  and  knew  their  lan- 
guage, so  that  these  could  go  up  there  and  take  possession 
of  their  country  in  the  name  of  the  king.  Monsieur  de 
Courcelles  at  once  cast  his  eyes  on  me,  and  had  me  re- 
main at  Quebec  until  the  return  of  Monsieur  the  in- 
tendant. 

When  he  arrived  there,  he  asked  me  if  I  would  decide 
to  go  up  to  the  Outaouas  in  the  capacity  of  an  interpre- 
ter, and  to  escort  a  deputy  whom  he  would  station  there 
to  take  possession  of  their  country.  I  informed  him 
that  I  was  always  ready  to  obey  him,  and  offered  him 


one]  ARRIVAL  OF  MONSIEUR  DE  TALON  221 

my  services.  I  then  set  out  with  Sieur  de  Saint  Lusson, 
his  deputy,  and  we  arrived  at  Montreal,  where  we  re- 
mained until  the  beginning  of  the  month  of  October 
[1670].  We  were  obliged,  in  this  voyage,  to  spend  the 
winter  with  the  Amikoiiets;  the  Saulteurs  also  wintered 
in  the  same  quarter,  and  went  hunting.  They  secured 
more  than  two  thousand  four  hundred  moose,  in  an 
island  called  Isle  des  Outaoiias,154  which  is  forty  leagues 
in  length,  and  includes  the  stretch  of  Lake  Huron  from 
the  part  opposite  the  St.  Frangois  River  as  far  as  the 
river  of  the  Missisakis,  on  the  route  to  Michillimakinak. 
This  extraordinary  catch  of  game  was,  however,  only 
made  with  snares.155 

I  notified  these  peoples  to  proceed  to  the  Saulteur 
country  in  the  springtime,  as  early  as  they  could,  in 
order  to  hear  the  message  from  the  king  that  Sieur 
Saint  Lusson  was  carrying  to  them  and  to  all  the  tribes. 
I  also  sent  some  [Saulteur]  savages  to  tell  those  in  the 
north  that  they  too  must  not  fail  to  proceed  to  their 
country.  I  went  with  a  sledge,156  and  carried  behind  me 

154  "Perrot  here  designates,  under  the  name  'island  of  the  Ottawas,'  the  great 
island   of   Manitouline,   the   primitive   residence   of   the   Ottawas   properly   so 
called  (Ondataouaouat,  Cheveux  Releves).     It  is  still  inhabited  by  the  remains 
of  that  tribe,  and  by  a  few  hundred  Sauteurs."  —  TAILHAN. 

155  "Although  devices  for  inducing  animals  to  effect  self-imprisonment,  self- 
arrest,  or  suicide  differ  from  hunting  weapons  in  that  the  victim  is  the  active 
agent,  the  two  classes  merge  into  each  other.     The  Indians  had  land,  water, 
and  air  traps;  and  these  acted  by  tension,  ratchet,  gravity,  spring,  point,  or 
blade.     They  were  self-set,  ever-set,  victim-set,  or  man-set,  and  were  released, 
when  necessary,  either  by  the  hunter  out  of  sight  or  by  the  victim.     The  fol- 
lowing list  embraces  all  varieties  of  traps  used  by  the  Indians  north  of  Mexico, 
and  they  were  very  clever  in  making  them  effective  without  the  use  of  metal: 
A,  Inclosing  traps—  (a)  pen,  (b)  cage,  (c)  pit,  (d)  door;  B,  Arresting  traps  — 
(e)  meshes,  (f)  hooks,  (g)  nooses,  (h)  clutches;  C,  Killing  traps—  (i)  weights, 
(k)  piercers,  (1)  knives."  —  O.  T.  MASON,  in  Handbook  Amer.  Indians. 

156  "The  Eskimo  and  the  Indians  north  of  lat.  40°  used  as  a  vehicle  for 
travel  and  transportation,  complementary  to  the  skin  boat  and  the  bark  canoe,  the 
sled  drawn  by  man  and  dog  over  snow  and  ice.     .     .     Sleds  differ  in  construc- 
tion, shape,  and  use  according  to  the  materials,  the  ingenuity  of  the  people, 
the  nature  of  the  ice  and  snow,  the  journeys  to  be  made,  and  the  loads  to  be 


222  NICOLAS   PERROT  [Vol. 

a  canoe  from  the  other  side  of  the  island,  in  which  I 
embarked;  for  it  is  to  be  noted  that  the  lake  never 
freezes,  except  on  the  coast  where  we  wintered -and  not 
at  all,  out  from  the  shore,  on  account  of  the  continual 
waves  which  the  wind  causes  there.  We  set  out  from 
that  place  to  go  toward  the  bay  of  the  Renards  and 
Miamis,167  which  is  not  far  distant;  and  I  summoned  all 
the  chiefs  to  come  to  Sault  Sainte  Marie,  where  we  were 
to  plant  the  stake  and  fasten  to  it  the  arms  of  France,  in 
order  to  take  possession  of  the  Outaoiias'  country.  It 
was  the  year  1669  [sc.  1671]  when  that  took  place.158 

On  the  fifth  of  the  month  of  May  I  reached  Sault 
Sainte  Marie  with  the  principal  chiefs  of  the  Poute- 

haulcd.  .  .  The  parts  of  a  sled  are  the  runners,  shoes,  crossbars,  handles, 
lashings,  lines,  traces,  toggles,  packing,  webbing,  and  braces.  These  belong  to 
the  fully-equipped  sled,  which  is  a  marvel  of  convenience,  but  some  of  them 
may  be  wanting.  There  are  four  plans  of  construction  besides  numerous  make- 
shifts: (i)  The  bed  lashed  to  solid  runners;  (2)  the  bed  on  pairs  of  bent  sticks 
spliced  together  or  arched  and  fastened  below  to  runners;  (3)  the  bed  resting 
on  a  square  mortised  frame,  probably  an  introduced  type;  (4)  the  bed  flat  on 
the  ground,  the  toboggan."  —  O.  T.  MASON,  in  Handbook  Amer.  Indians. 

See  Le  Jeune's  description  of  the  most  primitive  type  of  Montagnais  sledge 
(of  the  toboggan  type),  in  Jesuit  Relations,  vol.  vii,  109.  From  the  Indians  the 
sled  was  adopted,  with  variations  and  modifications,  by  the  early  settlers  of 
Canada,  who  called  this  conveyance  train ;  it  is  still  in  use  in  many  parts  of  the 
Dominion.  See  Warburton  Pike's  description  of  it  in  his  Barren  Ground  of 
Northern  Canada  (London,  1892),  p.  90:  "We  used  the  ordinary  traveling 
sleighs  of  the  North:  two  smooth  pieces  of  birch,  some  seven  feet  in  length,  with 
the  front  ends  curled  completely  over  and  joined  together  with  cross  slats  se- 
cured with  babiche  [strips  of  moose-hide]  into  a  total  width  of  sixteen  inches." 

-En. 

167  This  refers  to  the  Bay  of  Puans,  or  Green  Bay,  near  which  these  tribes 
had  lived  for  several  years.  See  Relation  of  1671,  chap,  v;  id.  of  1673,  chap,  i; 
Marquette's  Voyage,  section  3  ;  La  Potherie,  Histoire,  vol.  ii,  125.  —  TAILHAN. 

158  "Possession  of  the  Ottawa  country  was  not  taken  until  a  year  after  the 
return  of  Talon  to  New  France,  in  July,  1670  (Perrot,  125,  126).  Perrot  (or 
his  copyist)  therefore  makes  an  error  of  two  years  in  assigning  the  year  1669 
as  the  date  of  that  ceremony.  At  the  end  of  the  very  document  recording  that 
taking  of  possession,  a  copy  of  which  belongs  to  the  archives  of  the  Marine,  we 
read,  'Done  at  Sainte-Marie-du-Sault,  on  the  i4th  day  of  June,  in  the  year  of 
grace  1671.'  The  Relation  of  that  year  (part  3)  erroneously  dates  it  on  the 
4th  day  of  June."  —  TAILHAN. 


one]  ARRIVAL  OF  MONSIEUR  DE  TALON  223 

oiiatamis,  Sakis,  Puans,  .and  Malhominis ;  those  of  the 
Renards,  Mascouetechs,  Kikabous,  and  Miamis  did  not 
go  farther  than  the  Bay.  Among  these  latter  was  the 
head  chief  of  the  Miamis,  named  Tetinchoua,  who,  as  if 
he  had  been  the  king,  kept  in  his  cabin  day  and  night 
forty  young  men  as  a  body-guard.159  The  village  that 
he  governed  was  one  of  four  to  five  thousand  warriors ; 
he  was,  in  a  word,  feared  and  respected  by  all  his  neigh- 
bors. It  is  said,  however,  that  he  had  a  very  mild 
disposition ;  and  that  he  never  had  any  conversation  ex- 
cept with  his  lieutenants  or  the  men  with  whom  he  held 
counsel,  who  were  commissioned  with  his  orders.  The 
Pouteouatamis  did  not  venture,  out  of  consideration  for 
him,  to  expose  him  to  making  this  voyage,  dreading  for 
him  the  fatigue  in  the  canoe,  and  fearing  that  he  might 
become  ill.  They  represented  to  him  that,  if  any  acci- 
dent happened  to  him,  his  tribe  would  consider  them 
responsible  for  it,  and  on  that  account  would  attack 
them.  He  then  yielded  to  their  arguments,  and  even  re- 
quested them  to  act  for  him  in  the  coming  transaction, 
just  as  he  would  do  for  them  if  he  were  the  one  to  go. 
I  had  explained  to  them  the  nature  of  this  business,  and 
why  they  were  summoned. 

159  "Father  Charlevoix  gives  a  narrative  (Histotre,  vol.  i,  437,  438),  as  taken 
from  Perrot's  memoirs,  of  the  reception  of  that  traveler  by  the  great  chief  of 
the  Miamis  which  is  not  found  elsewhere  save  in  La  Potherie  (Histoire,  vol.  ii, 
125,  126).  The  former  historian  has  some  hesitation  in  vouching  for  the  rigor- 
ous exactness  of  the  details  which  we  read  in  Perrot  regarding  the  respect  and 
deference  of  the  Miamis  for  their  great  chief;  but  he  would  have  been  less 
timid  if  he  had,  at  the  moment  when  he  wrote,  recalled  the  following  passage 
from  Father  Dablon,  an  eye-witness  of  what  he  narrates:"  (see  Relation  of  1671, 
chap.  v).  The  other  tribes  of  the  Illinois,  however,  displayed  the  same  inde- 
pendent and  even  intractable  disposition  as  all  the  other  savages  of  the  northern 
regions  (cf.  Lett,  edif.,  vol.  vi,  321)  ;  yet  the  southern  tribes  among  whom  Her- 
nando  de  Soto  passed  were  like  the  Miamis  in  this  respect:  "The  chiefs  of 
tribes  there  generally  enjoyed  prerogatives  of  honor  and  authority  which  were 
equal,  if  not  superior,  to  those  of  the  great  chief  of  the  Miamis"  (see  Oviedo, 
Historia  de  Indias,  vol.  i,  book  xvii,  560,  561,  564,  567).  — TAILHAN. 


224 NICOLAS   PERROT [Vol. 

On  my  arrival  [at  Sault  Sainte  Marie],  I  found  not 
only  the  chiefs  from  the  north,  but  also  all  the  Kiristi- 
nons,  Monsonis,  and  whole  villages  of  their  neighbors. 
The  chiefs  of  the  Nepissings  were  also  there,  [with] 
those  of  the  Amikoiiets,  and  all  the  Saulteurs  who  were 
^settled  in  the  same  quarter.  The  stake  was  planted  in 
their  presence,  and  the  arms  of  France  were  attached  to 
it  with  the  consent  of  all  the  tribes -who,  as  they  could 
not  write,  gave  presents  for  their  signatures,  affirming 
thus  that  they  placed  themselves  under  the  protection  of 
the  king,  and  in  subjection  to  him.  The  official  report 
of  this  taking  possession  was  then  drawn  up,  on  which  I 
placed  my  signature  as  interpreter,  with  that  of  Sieur 
de  Saint  Lusson,  the  deputy;  the  reverend  missionary 
fathers  Dablon,  Allouez,  Dreuillette,  and  Marquet180 

140  All  these  were  noted  Jesuit  missionaries.  The  eldest  among  them  was 
Gabriel  Dreuillettes  (born  in  1610),  who  entered  the  Jesuit  order  at  the  age 
of  eighteen,  and  came  to  Canada  in  1643.  He  was  a  missionary  among  the 
wandering  Algonkin  tribes  on  the  St  Lawrence,  and  the  Abenaki  tribes  of 
Maine,  during  nearly  twenty  years.  In  1661  he  went  with  Dablon  on  a  mission 
to  the  Cree  tribes,  and  ten  years  later  was  in  charge  of  the  Jesuit  mission  at 
Sault  Ste.  Marie.  He  died  at  Quebec,  April  8,  1681. 

Claude  Dablon  (born  in  1618  or  1619)  entered  the  order  at  the  age  of  twenty, 
and  came  to  Canada  in  1655.  For  two  years  he  labored  in  the  Iroquois  mission, 
then  spent  a  year  among  the  Cree  about  Hudson  Bay,  and  some  six  years  in  the 
settlements  on  the  St.  Lawrence;  in  1668  he  went  with  Marquette  to  the  Al- 
gonkin tribes  about  Lake  Superior.  From  1671  he  held  responsible  positions 
in  his  order,  which  called  for  his  residence  at  Quebec  — where  he  died  in  1697. 

Claude  Jean  Allouez  (born  in  1622)  became  a  Jesuit  when  seventeen  years 
old,  and  joined  the  Canada  mission  in  1658.  After  seven  years'  labor  in  the 
St  Lawrence  settlements,  he  went  among  the  Ottawas  of  Lake  Superior;  and 
spent  the  rest  of  his  life  among  the  northwestern  tribes.  He  died  in  August, 
1689,  while  engaged  in  these  missionary  labors.  The  official  announcement  of 
his  death  credited  him  with  having  instructed  more  than  100,000  savages,  over 
10,000  of  whom  he  baptized. 

Jacques  Marquette,  who  came  to  Canada  (1666)  at  the  age  of  twenty-nine, 
is  especially  notable  for  his  voyage  of  exploration  with  Louis  Joliet  (1673-1674), 
in  which  they  discovered  the  Mississippi  River  and  followed  its  course  as  far 
as  the  Arkansas.  Previously  to  this,  Marquette  had  labored  among  the  Otta- 
was at  Chequamegon  and  the  Hurons  at  Mackinac;  and  in  October,  1674,  he 
went  to  found  a  mission  among  the  Kaskaskias  of  Illinois.  He  was  forced  by 
illness  to  abandon  this  work,  and  died  (May  18,  1675)  while  on  his  way  back 


one]  ARRIVAL  OF  MONSIEUR  DE  TALON  225 

signed  it  farther  down;  and,  below  these,  the  French- 
men who  were  then  trading  in  those  quarters.  That 
[proceeding]  was  transacted  according  to  the  instruc- 
tions given  by  Monsieur  Talon.  After  that,  all  those 
peoples  returned  to  their  respective  abodes,  and  lived 
many  years  without  any  trouble  in  any  quarter. 

I  have  forgotten  to  mention  that  the  Hurons  and  the 
Outaoiias  did  not  arrive  until  after  the  taking  of  posses- 
sion, because  they  had  fled  from  Chagouamikon  for 
having  eaten  the  Scioux,  as  I  have  previously  related. 
We  conferred  with  them  on  what  had  just  been  done, 
and  they,  as  the  other  tribes  had  done,  consented  to  all 
that  had  been  agreed  and  concluded.161 


to  Mackinac.  Wisconsin  is  represented  in  the  Capitol  at  Washington,  D.C.,  by 
a  statue  of  Marquette.  In  the  Jesuit  Relations  (vol.  1x5,  40x3-403)  may  be  found 
an  illustration  of  a  recently-discovered  portrait  which  is  thought  to  be  that  of 
the  missionary-explorer;  also  (vol.  lix)  his  journal  and  letters.  —  ED. 

lei  "The  Relation  of  1671  (part  3)  and  La  Potherie  (Histoire,  128-130)  con- 
tain many  details  of  this  taking  of  possession  that  are  omitted  by  Perrot;  I 
refer  the  reader  to  those  writings,  and  content  myself  with  giving  here  the 
(unpublished)  official  report  of  that  ceremony,  after  the  copy,  somewhat  incor- 
rect, deposited  in  the  archives  of  the  Marine.  I  have  restored  the  orthography, 
either  correct  or  probable,  of  certain  names  more  or  less  maltreated  by  the  copy- 
ist, and  have  placed  these  readings  in  brackets,  next  to  those  of  the  text.  The 
passages  suppressed  and  indicated  by  leaders  present  nothing  of  historical 
interest;  they  are  nothing  more  than  formulas  or  tedious  repetitions.  .  .  One 
century  had  not  passed  away  when  there  remained  no  other  trace  of  the  French 
domination  in  that  part  of  America  than  this  sheet  of  paper  which  had  formerly 
verified  its  establishment.  If  one  compares  the  list  of  the  tribes  which  came  to 
Sainte-Marie-du-Sault,  as  we  read  it  in  this  document,  with  that  which  the 
author  of  our  memoir  furnishes,  one  is  surprised  at  not  finding  therein  the  same 
names.  This  is  the  result  of  the  multiplicity  of  names  given  by  the  savages 
to  the  same  tribe,  or  to  the  diversity  of  forms  which  sometimes  were  assumed 
by  the  same  name.  .  .  In  closing,  I  will  point  out  a  slight  error  by  Perrot 
Father  Marquette  did  not  figure  among  the  witnesses  to  the  taking  of  posses- 
sion; he  was  at  that  time  with  the  Hurons  and  Ottawas,  who  did  not  arrive 
at  the  Sault  until  after  the  ceremony.  In  our  text,  therefore,  it  is  necessary  to 
substitute  for  the  name  of  Father  Marquette  that  of  Father  Andre,  which  is  found 
in  the  official  report  of  Monsieur  de  Saint  Lusson  among  those  of  other  wit- 
nesses, which  follow  the  name  of  the  delegate  [of  Monsieur  Talon]."  — TAILHAN. 


226  NICOLAS   PERROT  [Vol. 

XXI.     The  Irroquois,  being  no  longer  at  war 
with  the  French  or  with  their  allies, 
carry  hostilities  among  the  Andastes  f^j1^ 
and  the  Chaoiianons  skM/s*«* 

\y 


Sha 
The  Irroquois  could  no  longer  make  war  on  their 

neighbors,  having  been  compelled  by  force  of  arms  to 
put  an  end  to  all  their  cruelties ;  they  therefore  sought  to 
carry  it  into  the  country  of  the  Andastes  and  the  Cha- 
oiianons,162 whom  they  routed  in  several  encounters. 
From  these  tribes  they  considerably  augmented  their 
own  forces,  by  the  great  numbers  of  children  or  other 
prisoners  whose  lives  they  spared.  The  Andastes  were 
entirely  ruined;  and  the  few  who  remained  surrendered 
themselves  by  private  agreement.  They  were  received 
among  the  Tsonontouans,  where  they  are  at  the  present 
time. 

Monsieur  de  Courcelles,  having  secured  the  general 
peace  with  the  Irroquois,  resolved  to  visit  Lake  Ontario. 
He  went  thither  with  a  few  men,  and  arrived  [1671]  at 
Kataracouy,163  which  is  the  name  by  which  Fort  Fron- 

162  "Xhe  Andastes  'are  people  speaking  the  Huron  language  who  live  in 
Virginia'  (Relation  of  1646,  chap.  vi).  Their  war  against  the  Iroquois,  com- 
menced about  1659,  continued  a  long  time  (from  1657  to  t^73)  with  varied 
fortune  of  success  and  reverses,  and  was  ended  by  their  complete  destruction. 
(Cf.  Relation  of  1672,  chap,  vi.)  The  Chaouanons,  driven  from  the  shores  of 
Lake  Erie  by  the  Iroquois,  sought  a  refuge  farther  south,  in  a  country  which 
Perrot  calls  Carolina.  In  1673  they  inhabited  the  valley  of  the  Ohio  (Marquette, 
Voyages').  Some  remnants  of  this  tribe  resided  in  1835  in  Kansas,  south  of  the 
river  from  which  that  territory  has  taken  its  name  (Annales  de  la  propagation 
de  la  Foi,  vol.  x,  132)  ;  and  at  that  period  they  were  distinguished  by  a  stage 
of  civilization  that  was  relatively  quite  advanced  (id.,  vol.  ix,  91)."  — TAILHAN. 

The  name  Andastes  included  several  tribes  located  south  of  the  Iroquois 
Five  Nations,  in  what  is  now  Pennsylvania;  they  were  akin  to  the  Iroquois  by 
race  and  language.  The  Dutch  colonists  of  New  York  called  these  tribes 
Minquas;  and  the  English,  Susquehannocks  or  Conestogas.  They  were  at  war 
with  the  Iroquois  during  some  seventy-five  years,  but  were  finally  conquered 
and  incorporated  among  their  victors  (about  1675).  Regarding  the  Chaoua- 
nons,  or  Shawnees,  see  note  19.  —  ED. 

168  Kataracoui  was  the  Indian  name  for  the  locality  which  is  the  site  of  the 


one]  HOSTILITIES  OF  THE  IROQUOIS  227 

tenac  is  [now]  called.  He  summoned  the  Irroquois, 
who  had  [orders]  to  assemble  there  all  together,  so  that 
he  might  lay  before  them  his  intention  to  build  a  fort. 
They  consented  to  this,  and  some  presents  were  given  to 
them,  for  which  they  gave  others  in  return.  In  the  same 
autumn,  a  little  before  this,  Monsieur  de  Courcelles 
was  recalled  [to  France],  and  relieved  by  Monsieur  de 
Frontenac,  who  caused  this  fort  to  be  built  in  the  follow- 
ing summer,  and  bestowed  on  it  his  own  name;  and  he 
did  not  fail  to  go  thither  to  spend  some  months  of  the 
year.  He  summoned  thither  the  chiefs  of  all  the  Irro- 
quois nations,  and  always  maintained  harmony  between 
them  and  the  savages  of  the  upper  country -until  some 
Irroquois  warriors  who  came  from  Chaoiianonk,  where 
they  had  accomplished  nothing,  carried  away  five  fam- 
ilies of  Renards,  and  a  chief  who  had  gone  to  solicit  aid 
in  the  war  which  that  tribe  were  then  waging  against  the 
Illinois.  That  was  the  cause  of  the  Irroquois  destroying 
an  Illinois  village,  and  making  attacks  everywhere  in- 
discriminately. I  have  written  a  memoir  on  the  subject 
of  these  wars,  which  you,  Monseigneur,  have;  and  for 
that  reason  I  have  given  no  account  of  it  in  this  memoir. 

All  the  unjust  raids  which  the  Irroquois  made  every- 
where did  not  draw  Monsieur  de  Frontenac  into  making 
war  on  them;  he  foresaw  the  evil  results  of  that.  As 
soon  as  a  blow  was  struck  he  was  notified  of  it  by  pres- 
ents on  the  part  of  those  who  had  first  dealt  it,  and  others 
from  those  who  had  been  attacked.  He  was  able  to 
quiet  all,  although  the  Irroquois  steadily  became 
stronger  and  stronger  by  means  of  the  great  numbers  of 
captives  whom  they  continued  to  make  among  their  ene- 
mies. 

Monsieur  de  Frontenac  gave  to  various  persons  per- 

present  town  of  Kingston,  Ont.  —  an  important  place  for  both  commercial  and 
military  purposes.  —  ED. 


228  NICOLAS   PERROT  [Vol. 

mits164  for  the  trade  which  was  carried  on  in  the  upper 
country,  among  the  savages  who  are  outside  of  the 
[regular  trade  of  the]  colony.  I  also  obtained  one, 

i«4  <«The  trade  in  peltries  outside  of  Canada  was  vested  in  a  company  which 
held  the  absolute  monopoly  of  it  As  for  the  trade  with  the  savages,  it  was 
permitted  only  in  the  towns  of  Quebec,  Three  Rivers,  and  Montreal ;  in  order 
to  engage  in  trade  outside  of  these  places,  a  permit  must  be  had,  furnished  by  the 
governor-general  of  the  colony.  These  permits  (of  which  the  king  had  fixed  the 
number  at  twenty-five)  were  granted  to  the  noble  families  who  had  least  wealth, 
or  to  such  colonists  as  the  government  wished  to  recompense  for  their  services. 
It  is,  without  doubt,  by  this  latter  right  that  Perrot  obtained  his  permit,  through 
the  agent  of  Monsieur  Bellinzani  —  not  Belgralie,  as  erroneously  written  in  our 
manuscript  —  one  of  the  principal  officials  in  the  ministry  of  the  Marine  under 
the  great  Colbert.  The  holder  could,  at  his  own  pleasure,  use  the  permit 
obtained,  or  sell  it  to  a  third  party;  and  in  every  case  it  conferred  upon  its 
owner  the  right  to  send  or  to  take  among  the  savages  a  canoe  laden  with  mer- 
chandise, in  exchange  for  which  the  latter  gave  their  peltries.  On  returning 
[to  the  Colony],  the  net  profit  was  divided  into  two  equal  parts,  of  which  one 
was  paid  to  the  owner  of  the  permit,  and  the  other  to  the  voyageurs  or  coureurs 
de  bois  who  managed  the  canoe  and  traded  with  the  tribes  (La  Potherie, 
Histoire,  vol.  ii,  142).  I  extract  from  a  memoir  already  cited  [that  of  1705,  sent 
to  Pontchartrain,  see  footnote  148]  the  following  picture  of  the  life,  full  of  dan- 
gers, toils,  and  adventures,  which  was  led  by  these  Canadian  voyageurs,  of 
whom  Perrot  still  remains  one  of  the  most  famous: 

"'These  coureurs  de  bois  are  always  young  men  in  the  prime  of  life;  for 
advanced  years  cannot  endure  the  fatigues  of  this  occupation.  Some  of  them  are 
of  good  family,  and  others  are  merely  habitants,  or  the  sons  of  habitants; 
and  still  others  have  no  vocation,  and  are  called  volunteers;  but  the  desire  for 
gain  is  common  to  all  these  men.  Some  carry  their  own  merchandise  among  the 
savages;  others  borrow  the  goods  from  the  merchants.  Some  of  them  carry  on 
this  trade  in  behalf  of  private  persons  who  give  them  wages ;  others  have  an 
interest,  and  take  risks,  with  the  merchants.  As  all  Canada  is  only  one  vast 
forest,  without  any  roads,  they  could  not  travel  by  land ;  they  make  their  voyages 
on  the  rivers  and  the  lakes,  in  canoes  which  ordinarily  contain  each  three  men. 
These  canoes  are  made  of  sheets  of  birchbark,  smoothly  stretched  over  very 
light  and  slender  ribs  of  cedar  wood;  their  structure  closely  resembles  that  of 
the  Venetian  gondolas.  They  are  divided  into  six,  seven,  or  eight  sections  by 
light  wooden  bars,  which  strengthen  and  hold  together  the  two  sides  of  the 
canoe.  .  .  As  an  entire  canoe  cannot  be  made  with  a  single  sheet  of  bark, 
the  pieces  which  compose  it  are  sewed  together  with  the  roots  of  the  spruce- 
tree,  which  are  more  flexible  and  white  than  the  osier;  and  these  seams  are 
coated  with  a  gum  which  the  savages  obtain  from  the  spruce.  .  .  The  sav- 
ages, and  especially  their  women,  excel  in  the  art  of  making  these  canoes,  but 
few  Frenchmen  succeed  in  it.  .  .  The  coureurs  de  bois  themselves  propel 
their  canoes,  with  small  paddles  of  hard  wood,  very  light  and  smooth;  the  man 
at  the  rear  of  the  canoe  guides  it,  which  is  the  part  of  their  calling  that  re- 
quires skill.  The  two  other  men  paddle  ahead.  .  .  A  canoe  properly  man- 


one]  HOSTILITIES  OF  THE  IROQUOIS  229 

through  the  favor  and  recommendation  of  Monsieur 
Bellinzani,  secretary  of  Monsieur  de  Colbert. 

It  was  about  the  same  time  when  Monsieur  de  Ches- 

aged  can  make  more  than  fifteen  leagues  a  day  in  still  water;  it  goes  farther 
if  descending  the  current  of  a  river,  but  a  less  distance  when  it  ascends  against 
the  current.  .  .  When  they  meet  rapids  or  waterfalls  which  cannot  be 
passed  with  the  canoe,  they  go  ashore,  and  unload  the  bales  .  .  .  these,  as 
well  as  the  canoe,  are  carried  on  their  backs  and  shoulders  .  .  .  until  they 
have  passed  the  fall  or  rapids,  and  find  the  river  suitable  for  again  embarking 
on  it;  and  this  is  called  "making  portages."  .  .  When  there  is  a  favorable 
wind,  this  is  a  great  help  to  the  canoeman,  who  does  not  neglect  to  hoist  a 
sail  (with  which  each  canoe  is  provided  for  use  on  such  occasions),  and  to 
pitch  his  tent  on  shore,  where  he  lands  every  evening  in  order  to  eat  and  sleep; 
that  is  called  "cabining"  [cabaner].  In  such  a  canoe  these  three  men  embark, 
at  Quebec  or  Montreal,  to  go  300,  400,  and  even  500  leagues  from  the  colony,  to 
procure  beaver-skins  among  savages  whom  very  often  they  have  never  seen. 
All  their  provisions  consist  of  a  small  quantity  of  biscuit,  with  pease,  Indian 
corn,  and  some  kegs  of  brandy;  and  they  are  soon  reduced  to  obtaining  their 
food  only  from  the  game  and  fish  that  they  find  on  their  way.  .  .  It  often 
happens  that  the  hunting  and  fishing  are  not  successful,  and  they  are  reduced  to 
very  punctual  fasting,  and  have  nothing  to  eat  save  a  kind  of  moss  .  .  . 
which  they  call  tripe  de  roche  ["rock  tripe"].  When  they  are  returning  from 
their  voyages,  or  are  going  from  one  tribe  to  another,  and  have  nothing  to 
eat,  they  have  recourse  to  their  Indian  moccasins  and  to  the  pelts  which  they 
have  procured  in  trade,  with  which  they  make  a  paste  for  their  food.  .  .  As 
not  much  time  is  necessary  for  carrying  on  this  traffic,  the  life  of  the  coureurs 
de  bois  is  a  perpetual  idleness,  which  leads  them  into  all  kinds  of  debauchery. 
They  sleep,  they  smoke,  they  drink  brandy  at  whatever  cost;  and  often  they 
seduce  the  wives  and  the  daughters  of  the  savages.  .  .  Gambling,  drunken- 
ness, and  women  often  consume  both  the  capital  and  the  profits  of  their  voyages. 
They  live  in  entire  independence;  they  do  not  have  to  render  account  to  any 
one  for  their  actions;  they  recognize  neither  superior  nor  judge,  neither  laws 
nor  police,  nor  any  subordination.'  "  —  TAILHAN. 

About  this  time  the  court  revoked  the  conges;  these  were  a  score  of  permis- 
sions which  his  Majesty  had  granted  to  the  families  of  the  poorer  gentlemen 
to  go  trading  among  the  Outaouaks,  and  which  the  governor-general  distributed 
to  the  persons  whom  he  thought  most  in  need  of  them.  A  conge  was,  then,  a 
permission  for  one  year  to  take  into  the  Outaouak  country  a  canoe  with  eight 
men,  loaded  with  merchandise.  Those  who  did  not  care  to  go  up  thither  would 
sell  their  conges  for  a  sum  varying  from  eight  to  twelve  hundred  francs.  The 
buyer  would  choose  three  voyageurs,  to  whom  he  gave  a  thousand  ecus'  worth 
of  goods,  which  he  rated  high;  these  goods  would  produce  about  twelve 
thousand  francs'  profit.  The  owner  of  the  conge  had  the  half  of  this  profit,  be- 
sides his  principal ;  and  the  voyageurs  shared  the  rest.  Those  people  usually 
resorted  to  Michilimakinak,  or  else  went  among  those  nations  who,  they  believed, 
had  most  peltries.  So  many  abuses  crept  in  with  all  these  favors  from  the 
Prince  that  persons  who  were  entitled  to  but  one  year  extended  that  term,  and 


230  NICOLAS   PERROT  [Vol. 

neau,  intendant  of  the  country,  wrote  letters  against 
Monsieur  de  Frontenac,  and  sent  word  to  the  court  that 
he  was  bestowing  permissions  upon  his  own  dependants 
only.  His  letters  obtained  credence,  and  it  was  forbid- 
den to  issue  these  permits  to  any  one  thereafter. 

The  Canadians,  seeing  themselves  deprived  of  these 
privileges,  grew  lax  [in  their  obedience  to  the  govern- 
ment], and  believed  that  the  privileges  were  rightfully 
theirs ;  and  that  was  the  reason  why  most  of  the  young 
men  in  the  country  left  it,  and  returned  only  by  stealth 
to  obtain  trade-goods,  and  bringing  back  peltries,  which 
were  secretly  sold.  This  traffic  opened  the  eyes  of  the 
merchants,  who  found  it  greatly  to  their  own  advantage ; 
they  advanced  to  these  young  men  the  goods  that  were 
necessary  for  their  voyage,  some  of  them  being  opposed 
to  the  issue  of  the  orders  mentioned  above.  As  a  result, 
these  Canadians  made  themselves  like  unto  the  savages, 
whose  dissolute  conduct  they  copied  so  well  that  they 
forgot  what  was  due  from  them  to  French  subordina- 
tion and  discipline,  and,  if  I  may  venture  to  say  so,  to 
even  the  Christian  religion.  In  order  to  prevent  this 
lawlessness  when  it  commenced,  punishment  should  have 
been  administered  from  the  beginning  to  such  as  corn- 
others  went  thither  as  they  would.  As  a  result,  beaver-pelts  became  so  abundant 
that  the  Farmers  of  the  West  [i.e.,  the  Company  of  the  West  Indies]  could  with 
difficulty  find  sale  for  them  in  France,  or  a  market  in  foreign  countries.  On 
the  other  hand,  Monsieur  de  la  Salle,  seeing  his  projects  thwarted  by  the  dis- 
orderly commerce  which  some  unauthorized  Frenchmen  were  coming  into  those 
quarters  to  carry  on,  ordered  his  men  to  plunder  them;  and,  at  an  assemblage 
of  the  savages  convened  by  him,  he  begged  them  not  to  trade  with  any  one 
who  was  not  provided  with  one  of  the  commissions  issued  by  him.  He  took 
this  action  because  the  trade  which  he  carried  on  was  really  the  means  of 
maintaining  those  peoples,  and  because  he  could  not  succeed  in  his  discoveries 
if  he  did  not  attach  them  to  himself.  He  took  all  necessary  precautions  to  pre- 
vent the  abuses  which  might  be  occasioned  by  the  orders  which  he  had  given ; 
but  they  were  nevertheless  certain  to  occur;  for  the  savages,  extending  their 
range  up  to  the  places  where  trade  was  free,  plundered  all,  indifferently,  whom 
they  found  roving  in  those  quarters.  —  LA  POTHERIE  (Histoire,  tome  ii,  142,  143). 


one]  HOSTILITIES  OF  THE  IROQUOIS  231 

mitted  offenses  by  transgressing  the  orders  of  the  king. 
The  court,  having  been  informed  that  this  evil  was  not 
diminishing,  sent  to  Monsieur  de  Frontenac  a  decree  of 
amnesty  [for  those  offenders],  which  he  made  public  in 
the  Outaoiias  country- to  which  he  sent  Monsieur  de 
Villeraye  for  this  purpose,  and  stationed  him  there  as 
commandant  in  those  regions. 

The  Irroquois  then  began  to  make  raids  on  the  Illinois 
and  other  tribes,  for  their  forces  were  continually  in- 
creasing. They  even  undertook  to  go  against  the  Outa- 
oiias and  Nepissings,  from  whom  they  took  many  cap- 
tives. Monsieur  de  Frontenac,  having  gone  to  visit  the 
fort  which  he  had  caused  to  be  built,  as  soon  as  he 
arrived  there  had  all  the  Irroquois  chiefs  assembled; 
and  he  talked  with  them  in  such  fashion  that  they  sur- 
rendered their  captives,  and  remained  quiet,  promising 
to  make  no  more  raids  on  our  allies  who  are  included  in 
the  peace.  Nevertheless,  Monsieur  de  Frontenac  was 
continually  urged  to  make  war  on  them;  but  he  foresaw 
that,  if  once  it  were  kindled,  it  would  not  be  extin- 
guished very  soon ;  he  therefore  contented  himself  with 
intimidating  them  by  [threats  of]  war  in  his  speeches 
to  them,  and  succeeded  therein. 

Continual  disputes  arose  between  him  and  Monsieur 
du  Chesneau  through  the  suggestions  made  by  their  de- 
pendants on  both  sides.  The  king,  having  been  in- 
formed of  this,  recalled  both  of  them  to  France,  and 
sent  over  Monsieur  de  la  Barre  to  relieve  Monsieur  de 
Frontenac,  and  Monsieur  de  Meule  in  place  of  Mon- 
sieur du  Chesneau.  This  recall,  to  the  detriment  of  the 
country,  was  caused  by  the  ill-considered  counsel  that 
was  given  to  each  of  those  officials. 

Messieurs  de  la  Barre  and  de  Meules,  having  relieved 
them  [1682],  were  persuaded  by  the  ecclesiastics  to 


232  NICOLAS   PERROT  [Vol. 

make  war  against  the  Irroquois;  the  merchants  also, 
who  were  considering  not  so  much  the  destruction  of  that 
people  as  their  own  interests,  on  their  side  urged  him  on 
to  declare  war.  They  did  not  foresee  that,  in  render- 
ing the  Irroquois  their  enemy,  they  could  not  bring 
those  savages  back  to  them  when  they  pleased.  They 
fancied  that  as  soon  as  the  French  made  their  appearance 
the  Irroquois  would  beg  for  mercy  from  them;  that  it 
would  be  easy  to  establish  warehouses  and  construct 
vessels  on  Lake  Ontario  and  in  the  Lake  of  the  Outa- 
oiias ;  and  that  the  war  was  a  means  for  finding  wealth. 
All  these  counselors  succeeded  in  causing  this  war  to  be 
undertaken. 

XXII.     War  undertaken  by  Monsieur  de  la 
Barre  against  the  Irroquois 

Monsieur  de  la  Barre,  having  finally  resolved  on  the 
war  which  he  had  been  persuaded  to  make  against  the 
Irroquois  [1684],  sent  presents  to  the  Outaoiias  tribes 
inviting  them  to  come  to  join  him  at  Fort  Frontenac,  in 
order  that  they  might,  united  together,  destroy  the  vil- 
lage of  the  Onontaguez.  Monsieur  de  la  Durantaye  was 
ordered  to  command  the  Outaoiias,  and  for  his  second  in 
command  he  was  given  Monsieur  de  Lude ;  he  sent  noti- 
fication of  this  to  the  latter  at  Kamalastigouia,185  at  the 
furthest  end  of  Lake  Superior,  where  he  was  stationed. 
Monsieur  de  la  Durantaye  had  all  the  Frenchmen  called 
in  who  were  in  the  vicinity  of  Michillimakinak.  All 

165  «<in  tn;s  passage  of  our  manuscript  one  may  read  indifferently  Ka- 
malestgauda  or  Kamalesigauda ;  but  farther  on  this  same  name  appears  again, 
very  plainly  written,  under  the  form  Kamalastigouia,  which  for  that  reason  I 
have  adopted.  A  petition  from  Du  Luth  (in  archives  of  the  Marine)  in  which 
he  made  application  in  1693  f°r  tne  concession  of  this  post,  of  which  the  exact 
location  is  unknown  to  me,  has  the  form  Kamanastigouian."  —  TAILHAN. 

This  place  (the  name  also  written  Kaministiquoia)  was  near  the  present 
Port  Arthur,  Ont  -  ED. 


one]  WAR  AGAINST  THE  IROQUOIS  233 

his  people  being  brought  together,  he  sent  out  the  toma- 
hawk188 to  present  it  to  the  Saulteurs,  Missisakis,  and 
other  tribes  who  dwelt  about  Lakes  Huron  and  Supe- 
rior, but  there  was  not  one  of  them  who  would  accept 
it.  He  had  it  carried  among  the  tribes  of  the  Bay,  who 
likewise  refused  it. 

Monsieur  de  la  Barre  had  given  me  a  permit  to  go  to 
trade  among  the  Outaoiias.  On  my  way  to  the  Bay  I 
met,  five  leagues  from  Michillimakinak,  the  deputies 
who  were  going  to  invite  the  tribes  of  that  Bay  with  the 
tomahawk  and  presents;  but  when  they  returned  they 
reported  that  not  one  of  the  tribes  had  been  willing  to 
give  their  consent  to  the  war,  or  to  accept  the  presents 
that  had  been  offered  to  them.  The  envoys  went  among 
the  Hurons,  who  accepted  the  tomahawk;  the  Outa- 

166  «  <xhe  casse-tcte  ["head-breaker"]  or  tomahawk  is  a  sort  of  war-hatchet, 
which  is  the  symbol  of  a  war  that  is  declared.  The  custom  is,  to  present  it 
with  formality  in  the  middle  of  a  dance,  in  which  each  person  is  animated  by 
all  the  most  frightful  emotions  which  fury  can  inspire'  (La  Potherie,  Histoire, 
vol.  ii,  157).  This  weapon  was  at  first  a  sort  of  club,  formed  from  the  root  of 
a  tree  or  from  some  other  very  hard  wood,  two  and  a  half  feet  long,  squared  on 
the  sides,  and  enlarged  or  rounded  off  at  its  extremity.  Later,  the  savages  sub- 
stituted for  this  a  small  iron  hatchet,  to  which  they  gave  the  same  name  (Lafitau, 
Marurs  des  sauvages,  vol.  ii,  196,  197;  Charlevoix,  Histoirf,  vol.  iii,  238)." 

-  TAILHAN. 

"Tomahawk"  is  the  name  applied  to  a  sort  of  weapon  in  common  use 
among  the  Algonquian  tribes  of  the  eastern  United  States,  and  probably  came 
into  English  through  the  early  colonists,  from  the  dialect  of  Virginian  tribes; 
it  is  common  to  widely  scattered  peoples,  being  found  as  far  west  as  the  Cree. 
"A  common  conception  of  the  tomahawk  is  that  it  was  the  aboriginal  repre- 
sentative of  the  European  hatchet  —  that  is  to  say,  a  cutting  tool  —  and  in 
colonial  times  and  even  later  the  name  was  generally  applied,  apparently 
through  misapprehension,  to  the  metal  hatchet.  The  etymology  of  the  word 
[meaning,  an  instrument  to  strike  with]  would  seem,  however,  that  the  name 
was  applied  originally  to  a  striking  instrument  or  weapon  of  the  club  type, 
rather  than  to  an  edged  implement.  An  examination  of  the  literature  of  the 
subject  confirms  this  conclusion."  This  weapon  seems  to  have  been  originally 
a  club,  some  three  feet  long,  with  a  knob  at  the  end,  sometimes  made  more 
effective  by  inserting  in  it  a  spike  of  bone  or  flint.  The  French  called  it 
casse-tete,  "head-breaker."  After  the  Indians  obtained  metal  hatchets  from 
the  Europeans  the  name  tomahawk  was  often  applied  to  these. 

-  W.  H.  HOLMES,  in  Handbook  Amer.  Indians. 


234  NICOLAS   PERROT 

oiias,  the  Kikapous,  and  the  Sinagos  refused  to  hear 
them  speak. 

Monsieur  de  Lude  arrived,  the  following  night,  from 
Kamalastigouia,  and  learned  that  none  of  the  tribes,  ex- 
cept the  Hurons,  had  consented  to  go  out  on  the  war- 
path. In  the  morning  he  was  told  that  I  was  at  Michil- 
limakinak;  he  sent  for  me,  and  told  me  that  no  one 
could,  better  than  I,  induce  the  tribes  to  unite  with  us 
in  this  war,  [as  he  was]  persuaded  of  the  ascendency  that 
I  possessed  over  their  minds.  I  set  out  therefore,  one 
Sunday,  after  I  had  heard  holy  mass,  to  go  among  those 
peoples;  they  listened  to  me,  and  accepted  the  toma- 
hawk and  the  presents.  They  only  asked  me  for  a  few 
days  to  repair  their  canoes,  and  to  make  their  prepara- 
tions for  joining  us ;  they  were  given  a  week  in  which  to 
get  ready.  At  the  end  of  that  time  they  arrived  [at 
Michillimakinak],  and  we  all  departed  together;  but 
the  Outaoiias  did  not  come  until  three  hours  later,  at 
Sakinang  [i.e.,  Saginaw]-to  the  number  of  four  hun- 
dred men,  including  the  chiefs  and  old  men.  After  their 
departure,  a  canoe  was  sent  to  inform  the  tribes  at  the 
Bay  that  we  all  had  set  out  from  Michillimakinak;  and 
that  I  had  induced  peoples  who  had  refused  to  accept 
the  tomahawk  and  the  presents  to  unite  with  us  in  the 
war.  I  told  them  that  they  had  always  looked  on  me  as 
their  father,  and  that  I  was  to  march  at  the  head  of  the 
Outaoiias,  who  were  doing  quite  right  in  following  me. 
One  of  the  chiefs  then  spoke,  and  declared  to  all  the 
villages  that  it  was  their  duty  to  take  an  interest  in  this 
war,  and  to  go  to  it,  since  I  was  taking  part  in  it.  He 
declared  that  he  and  his  family  would  not  allow  me  to 
expose  myself  to  danger  unless  they  were  there  too,  and 
he  set  out  without  making  any  preparations.  He  was 
followed  by  a  hundred  young  men ;  all  the  rest  would 


WAR  AGAINST  THE  IROQUOIS  237 

have  accompanied  him  if  there  had  been  [enough] 
canoes. 

The  Outaoiias  having  joined  us,  Messieurs  our  com- 
manders gave  them  into  my  care.  An  unforeseen  acci- 
dent which  occurred  on  the  third  day  of  our  journey 
frightened  them,  and  made  them  look  on  it  as  a  bad  omen 
for  the  war  which  we  were  going  to  carry  on.  There  was 
a  French  soldier  who  unawares  let  his  gun  go  off,  and 
was  killed  by  the  shot;  this  sad  occurrence  filled  their 
imaginations  with  notions  unfavorable  to  our  enterprise, 
but  I  beguiled  them  from  these  ideas. 

When  we  arrived  at  the  islands  of  the  Detroit,167  they 
drove  a  herd  of  elk  into  the  water;  a  young  man  who  sat 
in  the  middle  of  a  canoe,  attempting  to  fire  at  them, 
broke  the  arm  of  his  brother  who  was  paddling  in  the 
front  part  of  the  same  canoe.  This  second  accident  made 
such  an  impression  on  the  Outaoiias  that  they  were  going 
to  turn  back,  if  I  had  not  persuaded  the  father  of  the 
wounded  man  to  make  a  public  declaration  that  he  had 
left  his  own  country  with  the  sole  intention  of  perishing 
with  his  weapons  in  his  hand  against  the  Irroquois.  The 
young  man  actually  died  from  his  wound;  and  his 
brother  lived  only  a  short  time  after  this,  on  account  of 
the  chagrin  and  sorrow  that  he  felt  [over  his  careless- 
ness]. Notwithstanding,  the  Outaoiias  could  not  evade 
continuing  their  route. 

The  people  from  the  Bay  whom  I  have  previously 
mentioned  joined  us  at  two  leagues'  distance  from 
Longue  Pointe  on  Lake  Erien;  and  they  informed  the 
Outaoiias  that  if  they  remained  long  absent  from  their 
women  the  latter  would  starve,  as  they  did  not  know  the 
method  for  catching  fish.  They  desired  therefore  to 

167  "Perrot  here  gives  the  name  of  Detroit  ['the  strait']  to  the  river  formed 
by  the  discharge  of  Lake  Huron  into  Lake  Erie.  Cf.  Charlevoix,  Histoire, 
vol.  iii,  255,  256."  — TAILHAN 


238  NICOLAS   PERROT  [Vol. 

return  home ;  but  I  opposed  this  purpose,  telling  them 
that  there  was  cowardice  in  such  a  resolution.  At  first 
they  were  angry  at  me,  and  roughly  answered  that  they 
would  show  me  what  they  could  do.  At  that  time  we 
were  detained  in  that  place  by  bad  weather168  for  seven 
or  eight  days ;  and  we  had  taken  care  to  send  out  some 
Frenchmen  thence  to  make  a  reconnaissance  toward  the 
country  of  the  Irroquois. 

At  this  reproach  [of  mine],  the  Outaoiias  also  sent 
out  some  of  their  men  by  land,  who  reached  the  region 
to  which  we  had  sent  our  men  to  get  intelligence  of 
the  enemies;  but  they  did  not  meet  each  other  until 
some  time  later.  The  Outaoiias  while  marching  amused 
themselves  by  whistling  and  counterfeiting  the  call  of 
the  elk,  until  the  Frenchmen  (who  were  not  very  far 
from  them)  believed  that  there  really  were  elk  there; 
and  they  went  farther  into  the  woods,  going  toward  the 
place  where  they  had  heard  the  sounds.  When  they  had 
come  quite  near,  one  of  those  at  the  front  spied  some- 
thing white  in  a  thicket,  and  thought  that  he  saw  the 
breast  of  an  elk;  this  led  him  to  fire  his  gun,  with  which 
he  wounded  an  Outaoiia  who  was  wearing  a  shirt,  and 
pierced  the  shirt  of  the  man  behind  this  one. 

This  last  blow  gave  the  finishing  stroke  to  their  belief 
that  they  had  good  reason  to  abandon  us ;  there  were  even 
some  of  them  who  were  bold  enough  to  say  that  they 
must  fight  against  us,  because  we  were  already  beginning 

168  "Perrot  does  not  name  the  tribe  from  the  Bay  who  came  to  Long  Point 
to  join  the  other  savages  who  were  degrades  —  that  is,  detained  in  that  place 
by  bad  weather;  but  La  Potherie  (Histoire,  vol.  ii,  159,  160)  informs  us  that 
it  was  the  Outagamis.  In  a  'Memoir  of  the  payments  made  by  Sieur  de  la 
Durantaye  to  the  Ottawas  for  the  service  of  the  king  and  the  execution  of  the 
orders  of  Monsieur  de  la  Barre  in  the  years  1683-1684'  (in  the  archives  of 
the  Marine)  appears  the  following  item:  'Given  to  the  Puans,  the  Saquis,  the 
Outagamis,  and  the  Malominis,  on  August  20,  in  my  behalf,  by  Sieur  Nicolas 
Perrot  in  order  to  invite  them  to  go  to  Montreal,  eleven  pounds  of  tobacco,  at 
eight  francs  a  pound.'  "  -  TAILHAN. 


one]  WAR  AGAINST  THE  IROQUOIS  239 

to  kill  them.  By  my  arguments  I  won  over  the  wounded 
man  and  his  uncle,  who  assured  the  Outaoiias  that  his 
nephew  was  not  dead,  although  he  had  been  wounded ; 
that  he  wished  to  go  further  in  order  to  die;  and  that  he 
had  left  his  own  country  with  this  design.  He  added, 
addressing  them  directly,  that  they  could  nevertheless 
give  up  the  enterprise  if  they  so  wished;  but  that,  as  for 
himself  and  his  nephew,  they  would  follow  the  French 
everywhere.  His  speech  produced  so  good  an  effect  that 
they  continued  their  march  with  us. 

At  last  we  arrived  at  Niagara,  where  Monsieur  de  la 
Durantaye  commissioned  me  to  inform  the  Outaoiias,  in 
presenting  to  them  the  tomahawk,  that  the  three  barks 
belonging  to  Fort  Frontenac  would  be  there  at  our  arri- 
val, laden  with  three  hundred  guns  for  arming  them,  and 
with  other  military  supplies,  and  all  the  food  they  would 
want.  I  told  him  my  opinion  regarding  this,  which  was, 
not  to  entangle  himself  with  assurances  of  this  sort,  and 
that  it  would  be  time  to  say  this  when  we  reached  that 
place,  in  case  that  such  abundance  were  found  there; 
because,  if  matters  went  otherwise  and  they  found  that 
they  had  been  deceived,  it  would  be  no  longer  possible 
to  keep  them  in  hand.  Despite  all  my  arguments,  he 
positively  insisted  that  I  must  carry  out  his  orders  as 
above. 

When  we  arrived  there,  we  found  no  vessel;  I  di- 
verted their  minds,  however,  during  two  or  three  days, 
by  making  them  believe  [that  contrary  winds]  had  pre- 
vented the  barks  from  coming.  Time  passed,  and  noth- 
ing came ;  that  made  them  murmur.  They  began  to  tell 
me  that  I  had  deceived  them,  and  that  the  French  were 
intending  to  betray  them  and  deliver  them  into  the  hands 
of  the  Irroquois,  who  would  [now]  have  no  difficulty  in 
carrying  away  their  wives  and  children.  The  com- 


24o  NICOLAS   PERROT  [Vol. 

manders  and  the  Frenchmen  no  longer  knew  what  to 
say  about  it;  they  held  consultations,  and  called  together 
the  chiefs  and  all  the  elders  of  the  tribes,  to  whom  they 
declared  that  it  was  necessary  to  take  the  route  toward 
the  north  side  of  the  lake  [Ontario],  and  go  straight  to 
Fort  Frontenac;  that  they  would  find  Monsieur  de  la 
Barre  there,  or,  if  he  had  not  yet  arrived,  they  would 
wait  there  for  him;  and  if  they  learned  that  he  had  ad- 
vanced from  that  place,  they  would  follow  him,  because 
his  arrival  would  protect  us  from  the  attacks  of  the 
enemy.  The  savages,  who  are  creatures  of  contradic- 
tion, always  desiring  to  be  masters  of  their  own  acts, 
said  that  it  was  necessary  to  take  the  [route  to  the] 
south,  and  march  straight  to  the  country  of  the  Tsonon- 
touans.169  They  stubbornly  maintained  this,  despite 

169  Tsonnontouan,  a  corrupted  form  of  the  Iroquois  name  (signifying  "People 
of  the  Great  Mountain")  for  the  westernmost  tribe  in  their  League  — who 
were  called  by  the  Dutch  Sinnekens  (apparently  the  Mohegan  translation  of  the 
Iroquois  name),  a  term  at  first  applied  to  all  the  Iroquois  tribes  save  the  Mo- 
hawks, but  finally  restricted  to  the  westernmost  one,  and  anglicized  to  the  form 
Senecas,  by  which  name  they  are  still  known.  When  first  encountered  by  the 
French,  "they  occupied  that  part  of  western  New  York  between  Seneca  Lake 
and  Geneva  River,  having  their  council  fire  at  Tsonontowan,  near  Naples,  in 
Ontario  County.  After  the  political  destruction  of  the  Erie  and  Neuters,  about 
the  middle  of  the  seventeenth  century,  the  Seneca  and  other  Iroquois  people 
carried  their  settlements  westward  to  Lake  Erie  and  southward  along  the 
Allegheny  into  Pennsylvania.  They  also  received  into  their  tribe  a  portion  of 
these  conquered  peoples,  by  which  accessions  they  became  the  largest  tribe  of 
the  confederation  and  one  of  the  most  important.  They  are  now  chiefly  settled 
on  the  Allegany,  Cattaraugus,  and  Tonawanda  reservations,  N.Y.  A  portion 
of  them  remained  under  British  jurisdiction  after  the  declaration  of  peace 
and  live  on  Grand  River  reservation,  Ontario.  Various  local  bands  have  been 
known  as  Buffalo,  Tonawanda,  and  Cornplanter  Indians,  and  the  Mingo 
(formerly  in  Ohio)  have  become  officially  known  as  Seneca  from  the  large 
number  of  that  tribe  among  them.  No  considerable  number  of  the  Seneca  ever 
joined  the  Catholic  Iroquois  colonies.  In  the  third  quarter  of  the  sixteenth 
century  the  Seneca  was  the  last  but  one  of  the  Iroquois  tribes  to  give  its  suf- 
frage in  favor  of  the  abolishment  of  murder  and  war,  the  suppression  of 
cannibalism,  and  the  establishment  of  the  principles  upon  which  the  League  of 
the  Iroquois  was  founded.  However,  a  large  division  of  the  tribe  did  not  at 
once  adopt  the  course  of  the  main  body,  but  on  obtaining  some  coveted  privi- 
leges and  prerogatives  the  recalcitrant  body  was  admitted  a  constituent  member 


one]  WAR  AGAINST  THE  IROQUOIS  241 

whatever  good  arguments  could  be  employed  to  make 
them  change  their  resolution.  I  went  into  their  camp  to 
confer  with  all  the  chiefs,  to  whom  I  showed  that  it  was 
too  great  a  risk  to  expose  themselves  to,  in  such  an  enter- 
prise, and  that  we  would  certainly  be  defeated,  in  place 
of  securing  our  safety  by  taking  the  other  course.  I 
talked  with  all  of  them  individually,  one  after  another; 
and  after  the  answers  they  gave  me  I  saw  that  there  were 
only  a  few  men  among  them  who  stubbornly  maintained 
that  opinion ;  and  the  reason  why  they  were  so  hard  to 
move  was,  because  of  the  reproach  of  cowardice  which  I 
had  previously  flung  at  them -while  as  for  the  rest  I  was 
not  wrong.  All  the  savages  likewise  told  me  the  same 
thing,  even  though  I  might  say  no  more  to  them  about 
it.  I  returned  to  Messieurs  our  commanders  to  tell  them 
what  I  had  just  heard,  and  to  assure  them  that  terror 

in  the  structure  of  the  league.  .  .  The  political  history  of  the  Seneca  is  largely 
that  of  the  League  of  the  Iroquois,  although  owing  to  petty  jealousies  among 
the  tribes  the  Seneca  (like  the  others)  sometimes  acted  independently  in  their 
dealings  with  aliens.  But  their  independent  action  appears  never  to  have  been 
a  serious  and  deliberate  rupture  of  the  bonds  uniting  them  with  the  federal 
government  of  the  League,  thus  vindicating  the  wisdom  and  foresight  of  its 
founders  in  permitting  every  tribe  to  retain  and  exercise  a  large  measure  of 
autonomy  in  the  structure  of  the  federal  government  It  was  sometimes  ap- 
parently imperative  that  one  of  the  tribes  should  enter  into  a  treaty  or  other 
compact  with  its  enemies,  while  the  others  might  still  maintain  a  hostile  atti- 
tude toward  the  alien  contracting  party."  The  Iroquois  were  at  war,  during 
most  of  their  early  history,  with  the  Algonquian  peoples  about  them,  both  on 
the  north  and  the  south,  and  sometimes  extended  their  hostile  incursions  even  as 
far  as  Labrador  and  Illinois  respectively,  the  Senecas  being  especially  active 
against  tribes  west  of  their  own  region;  and  it  was  mainly  they  who  ruined 
and  dispersed  the  Huron  tribes  (1648-1649),  and  subjugated  the  Neuters  (1651) 
and  the  Erie  (1656).  "In  1657  the  Seneca,  in  carrying  out  the  policy  of  the 
League  to  adopt  conquered  tribes  upon  submission  and  the  expressed  desire  to 
live  under  the  form  of  government  established  by  the  League,  had  thus  incor- 
porated eleven  different  tribes  into  their  body  politic.  .  .  The  earliest  esti- 
mates of  the  numbers  of  the  Seneca,  in  1660  and  1677,  give  them  about 
5,000.  .  .  In  1908  those  in  New  York  numbered  2,736  on  the  three  reserva- 
tions, which,  with  those  on  Grand  River,  would  probably  give  them  3,000  in  all. 
The  proportion  of  Seneca  now  among  the  4,052  Iroquois  at  Caughnawaga,  St. 
Regis,  and  Oka  cannot  be  estimated.''  —  }.  N.  B.  HEWITT,  in  Handbook  of 
Amer.  Indians  >  art.  "Seneca." 


242  NICOLAS   PERROT  [Vol. 

abode  in  the  camp  of  the  Outaouas,  and  that  they  were 
afraid  we  would  take  the  route  by  way  of  the  country  of 
Tsonontouans.  I  proposed  an  expedient,  which  was, 
to  publish  in  their  camp  that,  as  we  had  controlled 
the  advance  as  far  as  Niagara,  we  would  for  the  present 
confer  on  them  the  power  of  directing  it;  that  we  were 
ready  to  follow  them  in  the  direction  that  they  [thought 
best]  ;  and  that  we  would  regulate  [our  motions]  by  the 
first  canoe  that  should  depart.  They  agreed  to  what  I 
have  just  stated,  and  immediately  all  the  French  canoes 
were  launched,  and  the  baggage  was  placed  in  them. 

When  all  that  was  accomplished,  I  called  out  in  their 
camp,  "Now  do  you  direct  the  course;"  and  at  once  all 
those  who  were  not  numbered  with  the  obstinate  ones 
embarked,  taking  the  route  to  the  north,  and  followed  us. 

Thirty  or  thereabouts  of  the  stubborn  ones  did  not  stir 
from  their  camp  during  the  rest  of  the  day;  they  sent 
two  men  out  as  scouts  toward  the  country  of  the  Irro- 
quois.  These  men  discovered  a  bark  under  sail,  and 
immediately  returned  to  notify  their  people,  who  sent 
us  advice  of  it  by  a  canoe. 

The  next  day  we  reached  Niagara,  where  the  bark 
arrived;  but  it  had  nothing  [for  us]  except  letters  from 
Monsieur  de  la  Barre.  In  these  he  informed  us  that  it 
had  been  necessary  for  him  to  make  peace,  on  account  of 
the  disease  which  had  broken  out  in  his  camp ;  this  had 
caused  the  deaths  of  nearly  nine  hundred  Frenchmen, 
and  of  as  many  more  savages  who  had  accompanied 
him.*  Although  Monsieur  de  la  Barre  had  followed 
the  advice  of  many  persons  in  undertaking  this  expe- 
dition, they  were  the  first  to  write  letters  to  the  court 

*  "It  is  impossible  that  Monsieur  de  la  Barre's  army,  eleven  hundred  men 
strong  (Charlevoix,  Histoire,  vol.  i,  489,  490),  should  lose  eighteen  hundred 
of  them  by  sickness.  The  copyist  has  probably  added  here  a  zero  to  the  figure 
written  in  the  original."  —  TAILHAN  (additional  note,  page  338  of  his  edition). 


one]          CAMPAIGN  AGAINST  THE  IROQUOIS  243 

against  him,  and  to  declare  that  he  was  no  longer  ca- 
pable of  conducting  a  war.  He  was,  in  fact,  recalled  in 
the  following  year,  and  relieved  by  Monsieur  [de] 
Denonville  [August,  1685]. 

I  did  not  return  to  the  Outaoiias  immediately  after 
the  campaign;  I  did  not  go  there  until  the  following 
spring,  in  consequence  of  the  news  which  were  received 
through  the  voyageurs,  who  reported  that  the  men  of 
Monsieur  de  la  Salle  were  making  trouble  for  the 
Frenchmen  who  went  [up  there  relying]  on  their  per- 
mits from  Bay  des  Puans  as  far  as  the  Illinois;  and  that 
they  even  carried  away  the  property  of  the  traders.170 

XXIII.     Campaign  of  Monsieur  Denonville 
against  the  Irroquois 

I  was  sent  to  that  bay,  carrying  a  commission  to  be 
commander-in-chief  there,  and  in  the  regions  further 
toward  the  west,  and  even  of  those  which  I  might  be 
able  to  discover.171  Monsieur  de  la  Durantaye  then  re- 

170  "Cf.  La  Potherie,  Histoire,  vol.  ii,  143.     In  1685,  while  La  Salle  at  the 
head  of  a  new  expedition  landed  on  the  coast  of  Texas,  his  lieutenant  in  the 
country  of  the  Illinois,  Chevalier  de  Tonty,  continued  the  interdiction  to  the 
coureurs  de  bois  of  trade  with  the  savages  of  those   regions.     Monsieur  de 
Denonville  wrote  thus  to  the  Marquis  de  Seignelay:     'I  have  been  told  that 
Monsieur  de  Tonty  will  not  allow  our  Frenchmen  to  go  trading  in  the  Illinois 
country.     If  the  king  has  given  that  country  to  Monsieur  de  la  Salle  alone,  it 
would  be  proper  that  you  should  have  the  goodness  to  notify  me  of  that  fact, 
to  the  end  that  I  may  conform  to  the  orders  of  his  Majesty'  (letter  of  September 
13,  1685;  in  archives  of  the  Marine)."  — TAILHAN. 

171  "In   the  spring  of  1685   Perrot  arrived   at  the  post  of  Saint  Francois 
Xavier,   on  the  Bay  of  Puans,   and   took   possession  of  the   command   which 
Monsieur  de   la   Barre  had  just  entrusted   to  him;    and   almost   immediately 
he  set  out  on  a  journey  to  the  country  of  the  Sioux,  the  most  remote  of  all  the 
lands  which  were  under  his  jurisdiction.     On  August  i  of  the  same  year,  Mon- 
sieur de  Denonville,  the  new  governor  of  Canada,  arrived  at  Quebec,  charged 
by  the  [French]  minister,  among  other  things,  to  oppose  all  new  expeditions, 
and  those  to  remote  regions  —  as  we  learn  from  himself  in  a  letter  of  September 
13  to  the  Marquis  de  Seignelay   (in  the  archives  of  the  Marine) :  'There  are 
some  of  our  Frenchmen  who  are  among  the  Outaouas,  who  say  that  they  have 


244  NICOLAS   PERROT  [Vol. 

lieved  Monsieur  de  la  Valtrie,  who  had  been  command- 
ing officer  there  in  the  Irroquois  campaign. 

I  had  no  sooner  arrived  in  the  region  where  I  was  to 
govern  than  I  received  orders  from  Monsieur  Denon- 
ville  to  go  back  with  all  the  Frenchmen  whom  I  had. 
I  was  unable  to  do  so  without  abandoning  the  goods 
which  I  had  been  compelled  to  borrow  from  the  mer- 

orders  from  Monsieur  de  la  Barre  to  go  to  the  Mississippi.  I  know  that  it  is 
not  your  intention  to  allow  our  Frenchmen  to  ramble  so  far  away;  and  I  will 
do  my  best  to  bring  them  back.'  This  explains  to  us  the  command  given  to 
Perrot  to  return  to  the  Bay,  with  all  those  who  had  followed  him  to  the 
Mississippi.  It  was  not  long  before  the  Marquis  de  Seignelay  changed  his 
ideas  entirely;  and  Perrot,  who  was  recalled  in  1685  from  the  country  of  the 
Sioux,  received  four  years  later  a  definite  order  to  take  possession  of  it  in  the 
name  of  the  King."  In  fulfilment  of  this  order,  Perrot  formally  took  possession 
for  France  of  "the  Bay  of  Puants,  the  lake  and  rivers  of  the  Outagamis  and 
Maskoutins,  the  river  of  Ouiskonche  and  that  of  Missisipi,  the  country  of  the 
Nadouesioux,  the  Sainte  Croix  River  and  [that  of]  Saint  Peter,  and  other  places 
farther  removed."  Among  the  witnesses  were  Father  Joseph  J.  Marest,  a  Jesuit 
missionary  then  among  the  Dakotas,  the  voyageur  Le  Sueur,  and  Boisguillot,  com- 
mandant (under  Perrot)  "of  the  French  in  the  vicinity  of  the  Ouiskonche  on  the 
Mississipi."  The  act  of  taking  possession  is  in  the  archives  of  the  Marine;  it 
is  dated  at  the  post  of  Saint  Antoine  (anglicized  as  St.  Anthony),  May  8,  1689. 
"To  maintain  peace  and  friendly  relations  among  the  savages,  and  between 
them  and  the  Canadian  traders  or  coureurs  de  bois;  to  reestablish  harmony 
where  it  was  disturbed;  to  go  in  quest  of  new  countries,  and  to  engage 
their  inhabitants  in  alliance  with  France;  and  finally,  in  time  of  war  to  bring 
together  the  French  and  the  friendly  tribes,  and  march  at  their  head :  such  were 
the  principal  functions  of  the  command  entrusted  to  Perrot,  as  we  can  assure 
ourselves  by  our  memoir  (pages  139,  146),  by  the  act  above  cited,  and  by  the 
following  lines  from  a  letter  by  the  Marquis  de  Denonville  to  Monsieur  de  la 
Durantaye  (June  6,  1686;  in  archives  of  the  Marine):  'If  Nicolas  Perrot 
could  call  together  some  savages,  in  order  to  add  them  to  [the  forces  of]  Mon- 
sieur du  Lhude  (Du  Lhut)  when  the  time  for  that  shall  come,  he  would  have 
to  plan  for  that  at  an  early  date.' "  Apparently  the  office  conferred  upon  Perrot 
by  La  Barre  — that  of  commander-in-chief  of  the  Bay  and  the  lands  adjoining  — 
left  him  responsible  to  the  governor  only;  but  in  the  following  autumn  Denon- 
ville, the  new  governor,  placed  under  La  Durantaye's  authority,  as  commandant 
at  Michillimakinak,  all  the  Frenchmen  who  were  then  in  the  upper  lake  region 
(letters  of  Denonville  to  Seignelay,  Oct.  12,  1685,  and  June  12,  1686;  in  ar- 
chives of  the  Marine).  The  same  arrangement  prevailed  under  Frontenac. 
As  Perrot  set  out  for  his  voyage  to  the  Bay,  he  heard  of  the  war  begun  between 
the  Outagamis  on  one  side,  and  the  Sioux  and  Chippewas  on  the  other.  He 
hastened  to  Michillimakinak,  with  instructions  from  La  Barre  to  pacify  the 
hostile  tribes,  which  he  succeeded  in  doing,  and  then  went  to  the  Bay  (La 
Potherie,  Hisloire,  vol.  ii,  166-186).  — TAILHAN. 


one]          CAMPAIGN  AGAINST  THE  IROQUOIS  245 

chants  for  my  voyage.  At  that  time  I  was  in  the  country 
of  the  Scioux,  where  the  ice  had  broken  up  all  our 
canoes,  and  I  was  compelled  to  spend  the  summer  there; 
meanwhile  I  devoted  myself  to  procuring  boats  so  that 
I  could  go  to  Michillimakinak,  but  the  canoes  did  not 
reach  me  until  the  autumn  [1686]. 

In  the  beginning  of  the  winter  I  received  other  orders, 
to  call  together  all  the  Frenchmen  and  savages  whom  I 
should  find  within  my  reach  and  along  my  route,  in 
order  to  go  with  them  to  [a  place]  near  the  lake  where 
the  Tsonontouans  are  settled.  Immediately  I  set  out, 
and  I  invited  the  Miamis  [to  go]  to  this  war,  which  they 
promised  me  to  do ;  but  the  Loups,  who  were  their  neigh- 
bors, dissuaded  them  from  it,  making  them  believe  that 
the  French  intended  to  betray  them,  and  to  make  the 
Irroquois  eat  them  when  they  joined  the  former. 

I  went  by  land  to  the  village  of  the  Miamis,  who  were 
about  sixty  leagues  distant  from  my  post;  and  I  returned 
by  land,  the  same  as  I  had  gone.  I  learned  on  the  road, 
before  arriving  there,  that  a  body  of  fifteen  hundred 
men  from  the  tribes  of  the  Bay-  Renards,  Maskouetechs, 
Kikapous-who  were  going  to  war  against  the  Scioux, 
intended  to  pillage  my  stock  of  merchandise,  knowing 
that  I  was  not  there ;  and  that  they  were  planning  to  do 
the  same  to  the  Frenchmen  further  up,  and  to  kill  them. 
Some  of  them  had  come,  therefore,  as  spies  to  my  post, 
to  find  out  the  condition  of  affairs  there,  under  the  pre- 
text of  trading  for  powder;  and  they  carried  back  to  the 
camp  [of  the  warriors  above-mentioned]  the  informa- 
tion that  within  the  fort172  they  had  seen  only  four 
persons. 

When  I  returned  thither  the  next  day,  two  others  of 

172  "Perrot's  fort  was  located  on  the  left  bank  of  the  Mississippi,  eighty  or 
ninety  leagues  from  the  mouth  of  the  Wisconsin,  and  not  far  from  the  Pelee 


246  NICOLAS   PERROT 

those  savages  came  to  the  fort,  who  found  me  there.  I 
told  them  that  I  must  talk  with  their  chiefs,  of  whom  I 
named  to  them  seven  or  eight  of  the  more  prominent. 
They  returned  to  their  camp,  and  the  very  men  whom 
I  had  named  to  them  came  to  visit  me. 

The  sentinel  who  was  on  duty  notified  me  of  their 
arrival.  I  had  always  taken  care  to  keep  the  gate  of  the 
fort  closed;  I  had  it  opened  in  order  that  they  might 
enter,  and  conducted  them  into  my  cabin.  They  saw 
there  many  guns  in  good  condition,  provided  with  good 
flints  and  locks.  The  two  spies  who  had  previously 
come  had  likewise  seen  the  guns.  I  made  them  believe 
that  we  [Frenchmen]  numbered  forty  men,  not  counting 
those  whom  I  had  sent  out  to  hunt.  They  believed  this, 
just  as  I  said  it,  because  the  men  whom  they  had  seen 
there,  going  into  a  cabin,  quickly  changed  their  clothing 
and  again  appeared  before  them. 

I  had  some  food  given  to  them,  and  meanwhile  I  re- 
proached them  for  their  treacherous  purpose  of  trying 

Island  which  has  been  already  mentioned.  (Cf.  Charlevoix,  Histoire,  vol.  iii, 
398.)"-TAILHAN. 

In  x888  were  discovered,  at  a  spot  about  one  mile  north  of  the  present  Trem- 
pealeau,  Wis.,  relics  which  apparently  indicated  the  site  of  an  early  French 
post;  and  it  is  supposed  that  this  was  Terror's  headquarters  during  the  winter 
season  of  1685-1686.  (Cf.  note  128  in  this  volume.)  For  location  of  forts 
erected  by  him  in  Wisconsin,  see  Wis.  Hist.  Colls.,  vol.  x,  59-63,  299-372,  504- 
506 ;  for  view  of  the  site  near  Trempealeau,  see  vol.  xvi,  164 —  ED. 

The  discovery  of  the  Mississippi  in  1673,  and  the  explorations  of  La  Salle 
in  Louisiana  a  few  years  later,  opened  the  way  for  the  French  to  establish 
trading-posts,  military  stations,  and  colonies  in  the  great  Mississippi  Valley  and 
the  region  of  the  Great  Lakes.  The  trading-posts  of  the  English  were  mainly 
in  the  great  northwest  beyond  Lake  Superior  (under  the  control  of  the  Hudson 
Bay  company),  and  to  the  south  of  the  French  "sphere  of  influence;"  but  in 
this  latter  region  trade  gradually  pushed  its  way  to  the  west  and  north  until 
there  were  frequent  clashes  and  much  jealousy  between  the  French  and  English 
traders.  "The  trading  post  was  generally  a  large  square  inclosed  by  a  stockade; 
diagonally  at  two  corners  were  turrets,  with  openings  for  small  cannon  and 
rifles  in  each  turret  so  as  to  defend  two  sides  of  the  wall.  Within  the  stockade 
were  the  store-houses,  quarters  for  the  men,  and  a  room  for  general  trade." 
—  ALICE  C.  FLETCHER,  in  Handbook  Amer.  Indians. 


'-d 

w 

50 
58 
O 
H 


CAMPAIGN  AGAINST  THE  IROQUOIS  249 

to  plunder  my  goods  and  kill  the  Frenchmen.  I  told 
them  of  every  point  in  their  conspiracy.  I  also  made 
them  understand  that  they  were  at  that  moment  at  my 
disposal,  but  that  I  was  not  a  traitor,  like  them;  and  that 
my  only  demand  from  them  was,  to  give  up  the  war  that 
they  were  on  the  way  to  undertake,  and  rather  to  turn 
their  arms  against  the  Irroquois.  [I  added  that]  two 
sentinels  were  all  the  time  stationed  at  the  two  bastions 
of  the  fort,  both  having  many  guns  at  hand,  and  relays 
were  on  duty  all  night  long.  These  savages  confessed 
to  me  that  they  had  been  plotting;  I  made  them  some 
presents,  in  order  to  induce  them  to  obey  me,  and  re- 
ceived from  them,  verbally,  all  sorts  of  amends. 

The  next  day  the  main  body  of  that  band  arrived,  and 
they  thought  that  they  could  enter  [the  fort]  all  at  once; 
I  held  the  chiefs  in  my  power  within  it,  and  I  warned 
them  that  they  were  dead  men  at  the  first  act  of  violence 
that  their  men  should  commit,  for  we  would  begin 
with  them.  My  Frenchmen,  under  arms,  kept  well  on 
their  guard.  There  were  some  of  the  chiefs  whom  I 
detained,  who  climbed  up  on  the  gate  of  the  fort,  and 
called  out  to  their  men  that  matters  were  amicably 
settled  between  them  and  us.  They  entreated  me  to 
buy  their  peltries  in  exchange  for  ammunition,  so  that 
they  could  go  hunting  for  buffalo.  I  had  them  enter 
by  turns,  and,  after  I  had  traded  with  them  for  what 
they  had,  they  separated,  each  to  his  allotted  place,  to 
carry  on  their  hunt.  A  few  days  afterward,  I  set  out 
with  two  Frenchmen,  to  go  across  the  country  to  the 
Bay;  and  at  every  turn  I  encountered  some  of  those 
savages,  who  showed  me  the  best  roads  and  entertained 
me  very  hospitably.  When  I  reached  the  Bay,  I  held 
conferences  with  the  tribes  there.  In  the  spring  [1687] 
I  set  out  with  all  the  young  men,  and  arrived  at  Michil- 


250  NICOLAS   PERROT  [Vol. 

limakinak  one  afternoon.  Monsieur  de  la  Durantaye 
had  gone  away  in  the  morning  with  the  Frenchmen, 
who  had  not  been  able  to  make  the  Outaoiias  resolve  to 
go  on  the  war-path.  As  soon  as  they  saw  me,  they  told 
me  to  wait  for  them  a  few  days,  since  they  were  intend- 
ing to  go  away  with  me;  they  said  that  their  canoes 
were  not  in  good  condition,  and  that  when  these  were 
ready  they  would  follow  the  French.  I  believed  them, 
and  waited  for  them  during  a  week.  Monsieur  de  la 
Durantaye  arrested  thirty  Englishmen  who  had  come  to 
trade  with  the  Outaoiias,  and  confiscated  all  their  goods ; 
and  he  caused  the  best  part  of  these,  and  especially  their 
brandy,  to  be  distributed  among  the  Outaoiias.  Those 
savages  had  preserved  a  keg  of  it,  containing  twenty- 
five  pots"3  in  order  to  get  my  men  drunk  and  contrive 
to  entice  them  away;  they  did  what  they  could  and  gave 
my  men  a  keg  full;  but  I  was  informed  of  it,  and  had 
the  keg  staved  in  before  me,  and  the  brandy  poured 
out  upon  the  ground."* 

I  embarked  with  my  people,  after  I  had  sharply  up- 
braided the  Outaoiias;  and  I  joined  Monsieur  de  la 
Durantaye,  who  had  met  Monsieur  de  Tonty  at  the  fort 
of  Monsieur  de  Lude,  located  at  Detroit.  They  had 
arrested  thirty  more  Englishmen,  and  were  on  the  point 
of  going  back  [to  Michillimakinak]  if  I  had  not  ar- 
rived; for  sixty  Englishmen  had  already  become  too 

ITS  The  pot  is  a  measure  containing  two  French  pints,  equivalent  to  3.29 
English  pints.  -  ED. 

174  Cf.  La  Potherie's  somewhat  fuller  account  (Histoire,  vol.  ii,  201-204). 
Denonville  wrote  to  Seignelay  (letter  of  Aug.  25,  1687;  in  archives  of  Ma- 
rine) :  "It  is  certain  that  if  these  two  parties  of  Englishmen  had  not  been 
seized  and  plundered,  and  if  their  brandies  and  other  merchandise  had  been 
carried  into  Missilimakinak,  all  our  Frenchmen  would  have  had  their  throats 
cut  in  a  revolt  of  all  the  Hurons  and  Outaouas,  which  would  have  been  imi- 
tated by  all  the  other  tribes  farther  west.  This  is  a  fact  known  to  all 
our  Frenchmen,  by  reason  of  the  presents  which  the  former  had  sent  secretly 
to  all  the  distant  savages."  —  TAILHAN. 


one]          CAMPAIGN  AGAINST  THE  IROQUOIS  251 

many  enemies  for  them,  and  had  narrowly  escaped  being 
killed  by  the  very  savages  who  had  accompanied  them, 
inasmuch  as  the  Frenchmen  had  become  intoxicated  on 
the  liquor  that  they  had  plundered  from  the  English- 
men; and  that  would  have  occurred,  if  the  officers  had 
not  kept  the  prisoners  under  guard.  They  feared  that 
the  Irroquois,  having  information  of  their  advance, 
would  prepare  ambuscades  for  them;  and  that,  if  the 
English  joined  the  enemy,  they  might  be  defeated. 
My  arrival  caused  them  to  resume  their  voyage  the  next 
morning,  without  any  fear,  on  account  of  the  assistance 
furnished  to  them  by  my  party;  and  at  the  end  of  two 
days  we  reached  Niagara,  where  we  threw  up  an  in- 
trenchment  to  defend  ourselves  from  the  Irroquois  if 
they  came  to  attack  us.  We  spent  several  days  in  that 
place;  the  Outaoiias  and  Hurons  joined  us  there,  who 
reached  us  by  land  from  Thehegagon,  and  left  their 
canoes  opposite,  in  Lake  Huron.  They  decided  to  fol- 
low [us],  when  they  saw  that  the  tribes  at  the  Bay  had 
refused  to  believe  them;  for  it  would  have  been  a  cause 
for  shame  to  them  not  to  be  present  in  an  encounter  with 
the  enemy,  if  any  such  had  occurred  when  they  had  seen 
their  allies  pass  by  their  place  of  abode. 

We  there  received  orders  from  Monsieur  Denonville, 
and  advanced  toward  the  Tsonontouans ;  and  our  people 
arrived  there  at  the  same  time  when  he  did. 

Monsieur  Denonville,  having  caused  an  intrench- 
ment  to  be  constructed  on  the  shore  of  the  lake  [On- 
tario], marched  with  his  troops  against  the  villages; 
and,  at  half  a  league  from  the  nearest  one,  fought 
against  eight  hundred  Irroquois,  who  were  in  ambus- 
cade and  were  beaten  back  [July,  1687].  On  the  next 
day  our  people  encamped  in  the  village  itself,  and  laid 
waste  all  the  cleared  lands  about  it.  During  that  time 


252  NICOLAS   PERROT  [Vol. 

the  Hurons  and  Outaoiias  led  astray  the  savages  down 
here  [i.e.,  in  Lower  Canada],  and  induced  them  to  con- 
sent to  that  notion  [of  not  continuing  the  war]. 

Monsieur  Denonville  ordered  me  to  harangue  them 
and  reproach  them  for  their  cowardice  in  refusing  to 
continue  their  victories.  I  induced  them  to  follow  us 
everywhere. 

The  campaign  being  accomplished,  I  went  down  to 
the  colony  with  Monsieur  Denonville  in  order  that  I 
might,  as  a  mediator,  ask  from  him  peace  for  the  Irro- 
quois  with  the  French  and  all  the  savage  allies.  Al- 
though word  of  this  was  sent  to  the  Outaoiias,  and  they 
were  forbidden,  in  the  governor's  name,  to  go  to  war, 
they  did  so,  in  spite  of  Monsieur  de  la  Durantaye. 

I  have  set  down  in  the  memoirs  which  I  have  pre- 
sented to  you,  Monseigneur,  what  is  of  usual  occurrence 
among  those  peoples,  who  always  desire  what  we  do  not, 
and  who  take  sides  through  [a  spirit  of]  contradiction. 
In  order  to  succeed  with  them,  it  is  necessary  to  know 
how  to  manage  them ;  otherwise  it  is  difficult  to  do  any- 
thing with  them. 

You  will  readily  understand,  by  these  memoirs,  that 
the  savages  are  by  nature  treacherous,  above  all  the  Hu- 
rons and  the  Outaoiias.  I  have  related  many  examples 
of  their  treachery,  and  I  would  never  come  to  an  end  if 
I  undertook  to  expatiate  thereon.  It  will  be  sufficient 
that  I  here  cite  a  few  more  of  such  instances,  which  have 
not  been  hitherto  set  down. 

XXIV.     Huron  treachery,  rendered  abortive, 
against  all  the  Outaoiia  tribes 

The  Rat,"5  who  died  at  Montreal,  [August  2,  1701], 
went  to  see  the  Irroquois  and  proposed  to  them  the  de- 

175  "Kondiaronk,  or  'the  Rat,'  chief  of  the  Petun  Hurons,  gave  throughout 


one] TREACHERY  OF  THE  HURONS  253 

struction  of  the  Outaoiia  tribes  [1689].  They  agreed 
together  that  the  Irroquois  should  come  with  a  large 
force  to  Michillimakinak,  and  that  they  should  send 
scouts  ahead  to  observe  and  examine  the  places  in  which 
they  could  attack  the  Outaoiias.  It  was  resolved  that 
the  Hurons  should  occupy  the  flank  of  the  fort;  that  the 
Rat  should  confer  with  all  the  tribes  at  the  Bay  and  the 
Saulteurs,  and  invite  them,  in  behalf  of  the  Irroquois 
(who  would  not  fail  to  come  there  to  see  them),  to  re- 
pair to  this  fort  in  order  to  confirm  more  thoroughly 
the  peace  which  they  had  made  together,  and  which  the 
governor  had  made  them  conclude ;  but  that  it  was  prop- 
er and  even  necessary  to  form  another  and  a  new  one 
among  themselves,  independently  of  that  one,  which 
would  be  more  substantial  and  assured  [than  the  gover- 
nor's]. The  Irroquois,  in  order  to  persuade  them  more 
easily  to  this,  had  given  presents  of  collars  to  the  Rat,  in 
order  that  he  might  offer  them  to  the  other  Outaoiia 

the  course  of  his  long  career  numerous  proofs  of  bravery  and  political  ability. 
No  one  perhaps  among  the  savage  chiefs  of  New  France,  excepting  Pontiac  — 
who  equaled  and  even  surpassed  him  —  deserves  to  be  compared  with  him. 
Toward  the  end  of  his  life  he  seemed  to  become  more  closely  attached  to  the 
French  cause,  and  died  regretted  and  lamented  by  all.  In  the  histories  of 
Canada  may  be  found  much  detailed  information  regarding  this  illustrious 
leader,  who  had  nothing  of  the  savage  save  in  name  and  apparel."  — TAILHAN. 
Adario,  a  Tionontate  chief,  was  also  known  as  Kondiaronk  and  Sastaretsi. 
The  French  authorities  in  1688  persuaded  him  to  lead  an  expedition  against 
the  Iroquois,  but  on  the  road  he  learned  that  the  latter  were  on  the  point  of 
concluding  peace  with  the  French.  Exasperated  at  this,  he  captured  the  Iro- 
quois envoys  on  their  road  to  Montreal,  and  told  them  that  the  French  had 
commissioned  him  to  kill  them;  but  he  set  them  at  liberty,  save  one,  and  told 
them  to  take  revenge  on  the  French.  He  then  brought  about  the  execution  of 
this  captive  by  the  French  commander  at  Michillimackinac.  These  trans- 
actions, with  AdarSo's  falsehoods,  so  angered  the  Iroquois  that  they  planned 
and  carried  out  the  fearful  massacre  of  the  French  at  and  near  Montreal, 
Aug.  25,  1689,  and  ravaged  the  settlements  on  the  St.  Lawrence.  In  later 
years,  however,  Adario  was  converted  to  the  Christian  faith  by  a  Jesuit  mis- 
sionary, and  became  a  friend  to  the  French.  He  died  at  Montreal  in  1701, 
while  he  was  negotiating  a  peace  between  the  Iroquois  and  the  tribes  of  the 
upper  country.  —  ED. 


254  NICOLAS   PERROT  [Vol. 

tribes  when  they  should  be  assembled.  They  furnished 
to  the  latter  much  stronger  assurances  besides,  by  send- 
ing them  word  that  they  could  [thus]  secure  a  good 
stronghold;  for  it  was  the  purpose  of  the  Irroquois,  ac- 
cording to  the  measures  that  they  had  taken,  to  render 
the  Hurons  masters  of  a  stockade  which  they  were  to 
undermine.  By  this  method  the  assault  was  sure  [of 
success],  because  the  Hurons  fired  off  only  powder.  This 
treachery  was  at  last  disclosed ;  for  an  Aniez  who  came 
to  Michillimakinak  to  trade  met  at  Sakinang  some  Ami- 
koiiets  and  other  savages,  who  received  him  as  a  friend 
and  even  gave  him  some  peltries.  They  were  so  kind  to 
him  that  he  could  not  refrain  from  revealing  this  con- 
spiracy to  the  chief  of  the  Amikoiiets  (whose  name  was 
Aumanimek),  one  of  my  good  friends -who,  knowing 
that  I  was  to  go  up  from  Montreal  to  the  Outaoiias, 
waited  for  me,  in  order  to  winter  with  me  at  the  place 
where,  on  those  voyages,  it  is  necessary  to  halt,  so  as  to 
spend  the  winter  there. 

I  arrived  at  his  place  of  abode,  and  immediately  we 
set  out  to  go  to  the  bay  of  the  Puans ;  and  on  the  way  to 
Michillimakinak  he  made  known  to  me  the  treacherous 
plan  [of  the  Hurons].  I  informed  the  reverend  Fathers 
[there]  of  what  he  had  told  me ;  and  they  employed  me 
to  tell  the  Rat- but  without  naming  the  Aniez,  or  the 
chief  of  the  Amikoiiets -that  he  was  the  author  of  this 
plot.  They  sent  for  him,  and  told  him  that  they  had 
learned,  from  the  lips  of  the  Irroquois  themselves,  the 
design  that  the  latter  entertained  of  destroying  the  Outa- 
oiia  peoples.  The  Fathers,  in  order  to  convict  him  more 
forcibly,  told  him  the  means  which  had  been  agreed 
upon  for  the  success  of  his  scheme,  and  all  that  he  had 
planned  in  order  the  better  to  deceive  them;  he  could 
not  deny  it,  and  the  whole  plan  fell  through. 


one]  TREACHERY  OF  THE  HURONS  255 

It  is  well  known  that  the  Hurons  have  always  sought 
the  destruction  of  the  tribes  in  the  upper  country,  and 
that  they  have  never  been  strongly  attached  to  the 
French ;  but  they  have  not  dared  to  declare  their  feelings 
openly.  When  they  have  had  war  with  the  Irroquois,  it 
has  been  only  in  appearance,  for  in  reality  they  were  at 
peace  with  the  latter;  and  they  have  protested  to  the 
Irroquois  that  we  held  them  as  captives  in  the  colony, 
and  that  they  carried  arms  against  the  Irroquois  only 
by  compulsion,  without  being  able  to  do  otherwise,  since 
they  were  in  the  midst  of  the  French  and  the  Outaoiias, 
who  would  have  caused  them  annoyance  and  trouble  if 
they  had  refused  to  obey. 

After  the  campaign  of  Monsieur  Denonville  against 
the  Tsonontouans,  deputies  [from  the  Hurons]  arrived 
among  them  to  make  their  excuses  because  they  had  ac- 
companied the  French  army.  The  Tsonontouans  made 
answer  that  the  Hurons  did  not  come  until  the  grass  had 
grown  tall,  and  when  only  the  tops  of  their  heads  could 
be  seen -meaning  that  they  had  not  come  to  warn  them 
of  their  misfortune  until  it  had  happened.  The  Hurons 
told  them  that  they  must  have  had  information  of  it 
beforehand,  through  an  Aniez  whom  they  had  sent.  It 
is  true,  moreover,  that  two  Aniez  arrived  at  Michilli- 
makinak,  just  as  the  [French]  voyageurs  were  about  to 
depart  to  join  the  army  below,  in  the  Tsonontouan 
country.  The  commanders  had  confidence  in  the  fidelity 
of  one  of  the  two,  against  the  opinion  of  all  their  fol- 
lowers; and  this  man  deserted  us  when  eight  leagues 
from  the  [Tsonontouan]  village.  Without  that,  we 
would  have  found  the  enemy  at  home;  for  when  we 
reached  the  shore  of  the  lake  they  began  to  take  flight 
and  to  burn  their  village. 


256  NICOLAS   PERROT  [Vol. 

XXV.     Another  piece  of  Huron  treachery 

The  Hurons,  seeing  that  Monsieur  de  Louvigny  (who 
was  commander-in-chief 1T6)  was,  together  with  the 
Outaoiias,  unwilling  that  the  Hurons  should  change 
[the  location  of]  their  village -knowing  perfectly  well 
that  their  only  purpose  in  quitting  that  place  was,  that 
they  might  go  to  give  themselves  up  to  the  Irroquois- 
separated;  and  half  of  them  went  to  live  with  the  Mi- 
amis  on  the  Saint  Joseph  River.177  Monsieur  de  Lou- 
vigny having  been  recalled  by  that  time,  we  had  for 
commandant  in  his  place  Monsieur  de  la  Motte 
[169$]."° 

At  that  time  I  was  at  the  Bay,  from  which  place  I 
sent  sixty  men  (as  I  have  set  down  in  my  other  me- 
moirs), who  were  followed  by  Hurons  and  Outaoiias, 
and  who  went  rather  to  warn  the  Irroquois  than  to  make 

ITS  "Monsieur  de  la  Porte  Louvigny  was  first  appointed  commandant  at 
Mich  ill  imakinak  in  the  month  of  April,  1690.  He  arrived  there  toward  the 
end  of  July  or  the  first  of  August  in  the  same  year,  and  remained  in  that  post 
until  some  time  in  1694,  when  he  was  recalled  by  the  Count  de  Frontenac,  and 
replaced  by  Monsieur  de  la  Mothe-Cadillac.  Later  (in  1712)  he  was  ordered 
to  go  back  and  resume  [the  French]  possession  of  that  post,  which  had  been 
abandoned  for  several  years."  —  TAILHAN. 

177  "In  1693  Count  de  Frontenac  sent  Monsieur  de  Courtemanche  to  reside, 
in  the  capacity  of  commandant,  among  the  Miamis  of  Saint  Joseph;  and  he 
wrote  to  the  minister  (letter  of  Oct.  15,  1693;  in  the  archives  of  the  Marine) : 
'His  presence  among  those  savages  (who  have  great  confidence  in  him),  and 
his  good  management,  will  be  very  useful  in  preventing  the  English  from  in- 
truding there,  as  I  have  been  informed  they  are  planning  to  do.' "  —  TAILHAN. 

ITS  "This  refers  to  Monsieur  de  la  Mothe-Cadillac,  who  held  commands  at 
Michillimakinak,  at  Detroit,  and  in  Louisiana,  successively."  —  TAILHAN. 

Antoine  de  la  Mothe-Cadillac  came  to  America  when  a  young  man,  and 
settled  in  Acadia.  Losing  all  his  property  there  by  English  invasions  (1690- 
1691),  he  removed  to  Quebec  and  entered  the  Canadian  military  service,  re- 
ceiving a  command  therein  from  Frontenac.  During  1694-1697  he  was  com- 
mandant at  Mackinac,  and  in  1701  established  the  post  of  Detroit,  which  he 
governed  for  ten  years.  From  1713  to  1715  he  was  governor  of  Louisiana;  and 
he  died  in  France,  Oct.  18,  1730.  His  "Relation:  Missilimakinak,  etc."  is 
printed  in  Margry's  Decouvertes  et  etablissements  des  Franqais  (Paris,  1876- 
1886),  vol.  v,  75-132.  —  ED. 


one]  TREACHERY  OF  THE  HURONS  257 

war  on  them;  they  found,  nevertheless,  that  they  were 
compelled  to  fight,  as  I  have  previously  related. 

Since  the  establishment  of  Detroit,  have  not  the  Hu- 
rons  conspired  to  murder  the  Frenchmen  who  garri- 
soned that  place,  commanded  by  Monsieur  de  la 
Motte  [1704  or  1707]?  and  if  their  plots  have  been 
eluded  it  is  only  by  the  vigilance  [of  the  French]  in 
keeping  on  their  guard.179 

179  "Perrot  doubtless  alludes  to  the  plot  formed  against  Detroit,  in  1708,  by 
the  Hurons,  the  Miarais,  and  some  Iroquois  (Charlevoix,  Histoire,  vol.  ii,  322, 
324) .  Like  Perrot,  Messieurs  de  Vaudreuil  and  Raudot  attributed  the  main  part 
in  this  affair  to  the  Petun  Hurons;  they  wrote  thus  to  the  minister  (joint  de- 
spatch of  November  14,  1708) :  'Le  Pesant  [an  Ottawa  chief]  was  received  at 
Detroit  by  Monsieur  de  la  Mothe,  and  the  Hurons  and  Miamis  were  so  in- 
censed at  seeing  him  there  that  in  the  spring  of  1708  those  two  tribes,  with  a 
score  of  Iroquois  who  were  returning  from  a  raid  into  the  plains  country, 
laid  a  plot  to  massacre  Monsieur  de  la  Mothe  and  all  the  Frenchmen  who  were 
in  the  fort,  as  well  as  the  Ottawa  savages  settled  there.'  I  should,  in  this 
connection,  observe  that  the  various  acts  of  treachery,  actual  or  attempted,  of 
which  Perrot  here  accuses  the  Huron  peoples  (and  to  which  we  shall  have  to 
give  attention  farther  on)  ought  to  be  imputed  only  to  the  tribe  of  which 
I  have  just  spoken.  The  other  Hurons,  who  took  refuge  at  Lorette,  near  Que- 
bec, rendered  their  service  to  France  until  the  last,  with  unshaken  devotion  and 
courage.  Even  to-day  they  are  French  in  language  and  religion.  According 
to  the  latest  Canadian  census  (1861)  the  Hurons  at  New  Lorette  number  261, 
all  Catholics;  but  this  has  not  prevented  certain  magazines  from  announcing 
(1862)  the  death  of  the  last  of  the  Hurons.  As  for  the  Petun  Hurons,  they 
were,  like  so  many  other  tribes,  forced  to  leave  Michigan,  and  to  go  into 
exile  beyond  the  Mississippi,  into  what  is  called  'the  Indian  Territory.' " 

-  TAILHAN. 

When  the  great  Huron  confederacy  of  tribes  dwelling  around  Lake  Simcoe 
and  south  and  east  of  Georgian  Bay  was  ruined  and  dispersed  by  the  Iroquois 
in  1649,  a  part  of  the  fugitive  Hurons  took  shelter  with  the  Tionontati  —  called 
by  the  French  "Huron  de  Petun"  ("Tobacco  Hurons")  because  they  cultivated 
the  tobacco  —  a  people  of  kindred  race  who  resided  not  far  westward  from  the 
Huron  country.  They  too  were  attacked  in  the  same  year  by  the  fierce  Iro- 
quois, and  one  of  their  towns  destroyed;  the  rest  of  the  Tionontati,  with  the 
refugee  Hurons,  fled  for  safety  westward  from  place  to  place,  reaching  northern 
Wisconsin  (about  1657),  and  the  Illinois  country  by  1659;  they  were  kindly 
received  by  the  Algonquian  tribes,  but  soon  incurred  the  hostility  of  the 
Sioux,  and  retreated  to  Chequamegon  Bay,  where  they  settled  among  the 
Ottawas.  These  fugitives  were  all  classed  by  the  French  as  "Hurons,"  and 
known  by  that  name  under  the  French  regime  -  dwelling  at  Michillimackinac 
after  1670,  from  which  place  they  gradually  scattered  to  Detroit  and  various 
places  in  the  region  of  Lake  Erie.  After  the  English  conquest  of  Canada, 


258  NICOLAS   PERROT  [Vol. 

XXVI.     Treachery  of  the  Outaoiias  toward 
the  French 

Many  times,  also,  have  the  Outaoiias  been  known  to 
plot  against  the  Frenchmen  who  were  trading  with 
them.  Have  they  not,  to  my  knowledge,  presented  the 
dagger  to  all  the  tribes  of  the  upper  country,  in  order  to 
incite  them  to  become  accomplices  in  the  foul  attempt 
that  they  longed  to  make,  and  to  urge  them  on  to  massa- 
cre those  [Frenchmen]  who  were  trading  with  them? 
I  speak  as  an  eyewitness,  for  I  caused  their  enterprise 
to  miscarry.180 

It  is  known  that  they  murdered  the  Miami  chiefs  who 
had  come  to  confer  with  the  French  at  Detroit,  and 
whom  they  attacked  on  that  occasion  [1706].  When  the 
Illinois,  aided  by  the  French,  fought  against  the  Re- 
nards,  were  not  they  [i.e.,  the  Hurons]  ready  to  mas- 
sacre the  French,  if  the  Renards  had  [not]  been  entirely 
defeated  [1712]?  It  is  an  indisputable  fact  that  they 
slew  some  Irroquois  who  had  put  themselves  under  the 
protection  of  the  fort  at  Katarakouy  [1704].  Have  not 
we  seen  the  Irroquois  help  to  burn  some  Sakis  who  had 
been  captured  by  them?181 

these  Hurons  became  known  as  Wyandots  (a  corruption  of  their  own  original 
appellation,  Wendat)  ;  and  they  acquired  great  influence  among  the  north- 
western tribes.  In  1842  they  removed  to  Kansas,  and  in  1867  were  placed 
on  a  reservation  still  occupied  by  them  in  northeastern  Oklahoma. 

—  J.  N.  B.  HEWITT,  in  Handbook  Amer.  Indians,  art  "Hurons." 

iso  "The  historians  of  Canada  say  nothing,  to  my  knowledge,  of  this  con- 
spiracy by  the  Outaouais  against  the  coureurs  de  bois  of  the  colony."  —  TAILHAN. 

isi  «jn  regard  to  the  massacre  of  the  Miami  chiefs  by  the  Outaouais,  the 
defeat  of  the  Outagamis  by  the  French  and  the  Illinois,  and  the  murder  of  the 
Iroquois  chiefs  at  Katarakouy,  the  reader  may  turn  to  Charlevoix  (Histoire, 
vol.  ii,  292,  307-309,  365-372).  In  the  same  history  will  also  be  found  some 
details  regarding  the  murder  of  three  Frenchmen  by  the  Miamis  of  Saint 
Joseph  (ibid.,  322,  323).  From  1675  discord  prevailed  between  the  Miamis 
and  the  Illinois  (Letter  and  journal  of  Father  Marquette),  and  there  was  a 
new  outbreak  of  it  in  1687  (Ms.  Memoire  sur  I'estat  present  du  Canada}  .  .  . 


one]  TREACHERY  OF  THE  OUTAOUAS  259 

The  Miamis  have  slain  Frenchmen,  the  Illinois  like- 
wise, the  Saulteurs  the  same,  as  also  the  people  of  the 
north.  On  their  part  there  has  been  only  conspiracy 
against  us,  without  our  having  made  any  movement  to 

the  two  tribes,  however,  in  1691  were  reconciled,  and  marched  together  against 
the  Iroquois  (Journal  of  Sieur  de  Courtemanche ;  in  the  archives  of  the 
Marine)."  The  murders  and  treacherous  acts  ascribed  by  Perrot  to  the  western 
tribes  must  not  be  too  literally  understood  as  such;  usually  the  murders  were 
mere  reprisals,  and  often  had  only  too  good  reason.  Denonville  wrote  to  Seig- 
nelay  (Letter  of  June  12,  1686;  in  archives  of  the  Marine):  "It  is  a  marvel 
that  the  savages  have  not  killed  them  all  with  their  clubs,  to  protect  themselves 
from  the  acts  of  violence  which  they  have  suffered  from  the  French."  This 
explains  the  seizure  of  Perrot's  property  by  the  Miamis,  and  their  threat  to 
burn  him;  it  was  by  way  of  retaliation  for  attacks  made  on  them  by  some 
French  coureurs  de  hois.  As  for  plots  and  treason,  it  must  be  remembered  that 
the  Indians  often  found  it  necessary  to  deal  for  themselves  with  enemies  from 
whom  the  colonial  government  was  either  unable  or  unwilling  to  protect  them; 
that  they  sometimes  had  reason  to  fear  the  results  of  greater  friendship  between 
the  French  and  the  Iroquois;  that  very  often  they  sought  commercial  relations 
with  the  English,  as  being  much  more  advantageous  to  them  than  were  their 
dealings  with  the  Canadian  merchants;  and  that  those  tribes  were  allies,  not 
subjects,  of  France,  so  that  their  actions  just  mentioned  could  not  properly  be 
called  intrigues  or  treachery.  It  must  not  be  forgotten,  also,  that  with  very 
few  exceptions  the  Indian  tribes  of  the  west  remained  faithful  to  the  cause  of 
France  until  the  end  of  the  French  domination  in  America.  Frontenac,  Denon- 
ville, and  other  French  officials  had  the  same  distrust  of  the  Indians  as  Perrot; 
but  the  latter  governor  admitted  that  they  were  attracted  to  the  English  by 
the  better  market  thus  afforded  for  the  sale  of  their  peltries.  As  proof  of  this, 
is  cited  a  Ms.  dated  1689,  in  the  archives  of  the  Marine,  showing  the  difference 
in  prices  at  Orange  [Albany]  and  Montreal;  for  one  beaver-skin  an  Indian 
received  at  Orange  forty  pounds  of  lead,  or  a  red  blanket,  or  a  large  overcoat, 
or  four  shirts,  or  six  pairs  of  hose,  while  at  Montreal  each  of  these  items  cost 
him  two  pelts,  and  even  three  for  the  above  quantity  of  lead.  A  gun  cost  two 
pelts  at  Orange,  and  five  at  Montreal;  and  one  pelt  procured  for  the  Indian 
eight  pounds  of  gunpowder  from  the  English,  while  the  French  demanded 
four  for  that  quantity.  "The  other  petty  wares  which  the  savages  buy  in 
trade  from  the  French  are  given  to  them  by  the  English  as  part  of  the  bargain. 
The  English  give  six  pots  of  brandy  for  one  beaver-skin ;  this  is  rum,  or 
guildive  (otherwise  sugar-cane  brandy),  which  they  import  from  the  islands 
of  America  [i.e.,  the  West  Indies].  The  French  have  no  standard  [of  price] 
for  the  brandy  trade;  some  give  more,  and  others  less,  but  they  never  go  so 
high  as  one  pot  for  one  beaver-skin.  .  .  It  is  to  be  noted  that  the  English 
make  no  difference  as  regards  the  quality  of  the  beaver-skins,  which  they  buy 
all  at  the  same  price  —  which  is  more  than  fifty  per  cent  higher  than  the  French 
give;  and,  besides,  there  is  more  than  one  hundred  per  cent  difference  in  the 
value  of  their  trade  and  that  of  ours."  —  TAILHAN. 


26o  NICOLAS   PERROT  [Vol. 

avenge  ourselves.  What  conclusions  may  not  one  draw 
from  the  result?  Ought  we  not  to  conjecture  that  [even] 
if  the  Renards  were  entirely  overthrown  (which  they 
are  not  yet)  still  other  wars  would  arise ;  and  that  the 
assistance  which  these  traitors  obtain  from  the  colony, 
in  order  to  aid  in  destroying  them,  will  conduce  only  to 
the  same  destruction  for  the  French?  and  then  they  will 
destroy  one  another.  For  there  is  not  a  savage  tribe 
which  does  not  bear  ill-will  to  some  other.  The  Miamis 
and  the  Illinois  hate  each  other  reciprocally;  the  Irro- 
quois  have  malicious  feelings  toward  the  Outaoiias  and 
the  Saulteurs;  and  it  is  the  same  with  the  other  tribes. 
There  is  not  one  of  those  peoples  that  does  not  consider 
itself  justified  in  waging  war  against  the  others ;  accord- 
ingly, we  can  only  expect  successive  and  inevitable  wars, 
unless  we  [do  something  to]  prevent  them.  But  I  fear 
that  we  are  preparing  too  late  to  prevent  these  wars,  and 
that  the  fire  is  kindled  so  brightly  that  it  cannot  be  ex- 
tinguished, on  account  of  the  aid  which  the  French 
continue  to  furnish  to  other  tribes  out  of  consideration 
for  that  of  the  Hurons,  who  are  more  treacherous  and 
crafty  than  all  the  others;  for  they  would  no  [longer]  be 
in  existence  if  the  French  had  not  protected  them,  al- 
though they  have  many  times  incurred  our  indignation. 
Such,  therefore,  are  the  matters  on  which  I  can  give  you 
information ;  I  would  enlarge  somewhat  further  on  them 
if  [my  supply  of]  paper  had  permitted  it.  But  you  can, 
as  a  result  of  what  I  have  [here]  set  down,  easily  under- 
stand what  are  the  traits  of  the  savages.  The  instance  of 
the  Tsonontouans  will  readily  convince  you  that  it  is 
impossible  to  depend  on  any  of  the  tribes;  and  that  it 
is  much  better  to  let  them  settle  their  quarrels  among 
themselves  than  to  meddle  therein,  unless  this  is  to  recon- 
cile them.  Such  arrangements  as  had  [already]  been 


one]  TREACHERY  OF  THE  OUTAOUAS  261 

adroitly  made  would  have  instilled  in  their  minds  no- 
tions of  fear  and  subordination;  because  the  Renards, 
who  are  almost  destroyed,  would  have  only  waited  for 
the  disobedience  of  any  one  of  their  enemies  to  join  them- 
selves to  the  people  whom  the  enemy  had  tried  to  attack. 
Thus  the  Renards,  timorous  and  defeated,  would  have 
been  forced  to  agree  to  the  peace,  and  the  others  would 
find  themselves  compelled  to  accept  it. 

It  may  be  objected  to  this  that  all  the  tribes  would 
be  ranged  on  the  side  of  the  English.  Alas !  are  not  they 
[already]  thus  ranged?  Where  are  the  peoples  who  do 
not  allow  themselves  to  be  attracted  by  cheap  merchan- 
dise? Do  the  Hurons,  in  whom  we  have  most  confi- 
dence, furnish  many  peltries  to  Detroit  and  Montreal? 
Do  not  they  prefer  to  carry  their  furs  to  the  English, 
and  do  not  they  give  them  to  the  Miamis?  Do  not  the 
Illinoetz  go  among  those  [English]  who  are  established 
in  Louysianne?  It  is,  then,  a  weak  argument  to  be 
brought  forward,  when  one  means  that  the  tribes  would 
go  to  give  themselves  up  to  the  Irroquois;  since  the  lat- 
ter are  more  friendly  toward  the  Renards  (who  are  on 
good  terms  with  the  Irroquois)  than  to  any  other  of  the 
peoples  whom  they  have  ruined  since  the  peace  con- 
cluded between  them  and  the  French.182  It  is  also  an 

i»2  "Even  when  they  were  at  peace  with  the  French,  the  Iroquois  attacked 
without  scruple  the  savages  allied  with  us;  and  it  is  thus  that  they  dealt  with 
the  Illinois  in  the  course  of  the  years  1674-1679.  They  were  urged  on  in  this 
by  the  English  colonists  of  Boston,  Manhattan  [New  York],  and  Orange  [Al- 
bany], who  saw  therein  a  means  for  enlarging  their  territories,  or  at  the  very 
least  of  assuring  to  themselves  the  monopoly  of  the  peltries.  The  Count  de 
Frontenac  and  the  Marquis  de  Denonville  complain  bitterly  of  this  in  their 
despatches;  and  the  latter  is  especially  astonished  that  such  practices  were  per- 
mitted at  a  time  when  the  closest  friendship  reigned  between  the  two  crowns 
of  France  and  England.  But  of  what  importance  were  the  most  solemn  treaties 
to  those  merchants?  those  who,  in  order  to  force  the  western  tribes  to  implore 
their  mediation  with  the  Iroquois,  and  to  win  it  by  carrying  to  them  their 
precious  furs,  went  so  far  as  to  set  at  naught  the  reiterated  prohibitions  of  their 
own  sovereign.  More  than  that,  they  were  seen  —  always  to  the  same  end  —  to 


262  NICOLAS   PERROT  [Vol. 

argument  that  has  no  foundation,  to  try  to  maintain  that 
the  tribes  will  place  themselves  under  the  rule  of  the 
English  because  they  carry  their  peltries  to  that  people  - 
which  it  would  have  been  easy  to  prevent  if  we  had 
showed  less  condescension  to  them  and  had  not  been  so 
ready  to  comply  with  their  humors;  it  is  this  which  is 
the  source  of  their  arrogant  notion  that  the  French  can- 
not get  along  without  them,  and  that  we  could  not  main- 
tain ourselves  in  the  Colony  without  the  assistance  that 
they  give  us. 

I  hope  that  you  will  be  pleased,  Monseigneur,  to 
examine  this  memoir  and  the  others  which  I  have  had 
the  honor  to  place  before  you ; 183  and  that  in  reflecting 
thereon  you  will  recognize  that,  at  the  establishment  of 

treat  their  own  brethren  of  Virginia  as  they  had  treated  the  French  of  Canada. 
Indeed  we  know  — and  it  is  the  Marquis  de  Denonville  who  tells  us  of  it 
(Letter  of  Aug.  10,  1688;  in  archives  of  the  Marine)  —that  for  a  long  time 
past  they  'maintained  war  with  those  of  Virginia,  for  fear  that  the  Iroquois 
might  trade  with  the  latter.  I  know  that  the  merchants  of  Orange  have  given 
presents  to  the  Iroquois  for  that.  If  then  they  are  faithless  to  their  own 
countrymen,  how  will  they  be  trustworthy  with  us  ?'  "  —  TAILHAN. 

IBS  "The  bishop  of  Quebec,  the  governor,  and  the  intendant  were  the  only 
persons  in  the  colony  who  had  right  to  the  title  of  Monseigneur;  it  is  therefore 
one  of  these  three  personages  that  Perrot  here  addresses.  But  the  first  two  must 
be  dismissed  from  our  consideration:  one,  on  account  of  his  being,  by  his  voca- 
tion, a  stranger  to  most  of  the  questions  discussed  in  these  memoirs;  the  other 
(the  Marquis  de  Vaudreuil),  because  the  author  speaks  of  him  a  little  farther 
on  (page  266)  in  the  third  person.  It  must  therefore  be  the  intendant,  Mon- 
sieur Begon,  for  whom  Perrot  composed  these  relations;  moreover,  it  was  from 
the  hands  of  this  magistrate  that,  three  years  later  (1720-1721),  Father  Charle- 
voix  received  the  manuscript  of  the  present  memoir  (see  his  Histoire,  vol.  ii,  pp. 
be,  Ixi).  The  other  memoirs  which  Perrot  had  sent  to  the  intendant  of  Canada, 
and  to  which  he  refers  for  fuller  details  regarding  the  events  which  he  only 
mentions  here,  contained  a  narrative  of  the  war  by  the  Iroquois  against  the 
tribes  of  the  upper  country  and  the  Illinois,  as  well  as  the  frequent  acts  of 
treachery  of  which  the  savages— and  more  especially  the  Hurons  and  the 
Ottawas  — were  guilty  (Perrot,  129,  130,  143,  146).  I  am  strongly  inclined  to 
believe  that  La  Potherie  has  inserted  the  greater  part  of  these  relations  in  the 
second  volume  of  his  history.  It  is,  in  fact,  to  be  noted  that  (i)  La  Potherie 
was  acquainted  with  Perrot  in  Canada,  and  that  he  received  from  him  the 
most  exact  information  (Histoire,  vol.  ii,  87;  vol.  iv,  268;  (2)  his  second  vol- 
ume, almost  throughout,  could  have  been  written  only  by  means  of  the  data 


one]        SAVAGE  INSOLENCE  AND  VAINGLORY          263 

the  Colony,  we  began  at  the  outset  to  assert  our  author- 
ity over  the  savages  (although  at  that  time  it  contained 
very  few  Frenchmen) ,  and  we  were  careful  to  maintain 
ourselves  in  that  superiority,  despite  all  the  changes  that 
might  occur -notwithstanding  that  the  savages  were 
then  more  numerous  and  more  barbarous- 1  mean,  more 
brutish -than  they  now  are.  But  to-day,  when  they  are 
weaker  and  more  humanized,  they  try  to  be  masters 
over  us ;  and  already  they  push  their  insolence  so  far  as 
to  flatter  themselves,  if  I  may  say  so,  that  they  have  a 
right  to  lay  down  the  law  for  us,  for  they  see  that  we 
tolerate  them  and  leave  them  in  immunity.  If  the 
French,  instead  of  that,  had  made  them  understand  as 
they  should  the  obligations  under  which  they  are  to  us, 
the  assistance  that  we  have  given  them,  and  that,  in  a 
word,  the  continuance  of  their  maintenance  and  pro- 
tection is  in  our  power,  they  would  feel  more  respect, 
regard,  and  obedience  toward  their  benefactors. 

XXVII.     Of  the  insolence  and  vainglory  of 
the  savages,  and  what  has  given  rise  to  it 

All  the  savages  who  trade  with  the  French  are  such 
only  in  name ;  equally  with  ourselves,  they  are  bent  on 
availing  themselves  of  everything  that  they  see  and 
understand  can  be  to  their  advantage.  Ambition  and 
vainglory  are,  as  I  have  already  stated,  the  supreme  pas- 
sions that  sway  them.  They  see  the  French  commit, 
through  self-interest,  a  thousand  mean  acts  before  their 

furnished  by  Perrot,  whose  voyages,  adventures,  and  even  numerous  harangues 
to  the  savages  are  recounted  therein  at  great  length;  (3)  the  style  in  this 
same  volume,  save  in  a  very  small  number  of  pages,  is  very  noticeably  dif- 
ferent from  that  of  the  three  others,  and  by  its  loose,  incorrect,  and  perplexing 
constructions  it  most  often  recalls,  if  I  am  not  mistaken,  the  style  of  Perrot  - 
which  cannot  be  explained  on  the  hypothesis  of  merely  verbal  communications 
made  by  the  latter  to  La  Potherie."  -  TAILHAN. 


264  NICOLAS   PERROT  [Vol. 

eyes,  every  day,  in  order  to  be  numbered  among  their 
friends  and  to  acquire  their  peltries -not  only  in  the 
Colony,  but  also  in  their  own  country.184  They  perceive 
that  the  commandants,  like  the  rest,  trade  with  them; 
for  among  the  savages  it  is  the  custom  of  the  chiefs  to 
give  freely,  and  this  [trading  by  officials]  seems  to  them 
so  much  the  more  odious.  They  are  so  presumptuous 
as  to  believe  that  we  dare  [not]  chastise  them,  or  make 
their  families  feel  our  anger,  when  they  commit  any 
fault;  for  they,  however  culpable,  see  that  they  are 
supported  by  influential  persons,  and  that  a  French- 
man-very often  innocent,  and  justified  by  the  law -is 
punished  on  account  of  quarrels  that  he  has  had  with 
them.  That  results  in  their  abusing  Frenchmen,  and 
especially  when  they  see  punishment  inflicted  on  the 
person  against  whom  they  have  made  complaints.  The 
interpreters,  or  else  those  who  direct  them,  are  very  often 
the  cause  of  this,  through  the  unfair  partiality  which 
such  persons  usually  have  for  them.  Such  acts  of  in- 
justice, even  though  in  their  favor,  make  them  feel  so 
great  a  contempt  for  us  that  they  regard  those  of  the 
French  nation  as  wretched  menials  and  the  most  miser- 

184  A  Memoire  historique  in  the  archives  of  the  Marine,  on  the  beaver- 
trade  monopoly  and  its  detrimental  effects,  says:  "The  coureurs  de  bois  often 
committed  a  thousand  base  acts  with  the  savages  in  order  to  obtain  their  beaver- 
skins;  they  followed  them  even  in  their  hunting  expeditions,  and  did  not  even 
give  them  time  to  dry  and  prepare  their  pelts.  They  endured  the  stinging 
jeers,  the  contempt,  and  sometimes  the  blows  of  those  savages,  who  were  lost  in 
wonder  at  covetousness  so  sordid,  and  at  seeing  the  French  come  from  so 
great  a  distance,  with  so  much  fatigue  and  expense,  in  order  to  gather  up 
dirty  and  foul-smelling  beaver-skins,  with  which  they  clothed  themselves,  and 
which  they  no  longer  valued.  .  .  In  order  to  understand  fully  the  meaning 
of  this  last  phrase,  it  is  necessary  to  remember  that  the  beaver-skins  most  in 
demand  by  the  French  were  those  which  they  designated  by  the  name  castor 
gras  d'hiver  ["greasy  winter  pelts"]  —  that  is,  the  skins  of  beavers  killed  during 
the  winter,  and  of  which  the  savages  had  made  robes  for  themselves,  which  they 
had  worn  long  enough  to  render  them  greasy,  by  their  sweat  penetrating  to 
the  roots  of  the  fur  (another  Ms.  in  those  archives,  on  'the  leasing  of  the  Western 
Domain;'  and  cf.  La  Potherie,  Histoire,  vol.  i,  136)."  — TAILHAN. 


one]         SAVAGE  INSOLENCE  AND  VAINGLORY          265 

able  people  in  the  world.  See  how  we  have  managed 
them  for  some  time  past! 

Some  of  them  have  become  so  haughty  that  it  is  neces- 
sary to  treat  them  at  the  present  time  with  a  sort  of  sub- 
missiveness.  If  they  talk  with  the  authorities  of  the 
country,  it  is  in  a  manner  so  lofty  and  imperious  that  the 
latter  would  not  dare,  as  it  were,  [to  refuse]  what  the 
savages  have  to  demand ;  and  if  they  did  not  obtain  it 
they  would  not  fear  to  display  their  resentment.  In 
earlier  days  we  did  not  let  ourselves  govern  [them]  in 
this  fashion;  we  knew  how  to  indulge  them  in  a  proper 
way,  and  when  they  deserved  it,  whether  in  the  colony 
or  in  their  own  country;  we  were  likewise  strict  in  pun- 
ishing them  when  they  were  in  fault.  I  have  cited 
several  examples  of  this  sort  in  this  memoir.  But  how 
many  times  I  have  compelled  them  to  submit,  when  they 
have  spoken  evil  of  Monsieur  the  governor,  and  to  go  to 
him  with  presents,  confessing  their  fault!  When  they 
have  undertaken  to  plot  some  undertaking  against  the 
[welfare  of  the]  state,  I  have  obliged  them  to  desist 
from  it.  This  memoir  bears  witness  to  this  in  many 
places ;  and  if  any  one  undertakes  to  find  fault  with  what 
I  advance  I  am  ready  to  prove  its  truth -making  them 
thoroughly  understand  that  all  which  I  have  related  is 
entirely  accurate,  by  the  testimony  of  two  hundred  per- 
sons worthy  of  confidence,  who  have  seen  and  known 
what  I  have  accomplished  in  their  country -I  mean, 
that  of  the  savage  tribes -for  the  glory  and  the  benefit 
of  the  colony. 

Do  we  not  continually  see  Frenchmen,  before  our 
very  eyes,  who  were  only  worthless  menials -but  who, 
after  having  run  away  to  the  woods,  amassed  wealth 
which  they  as  quickly  dissipated -thrust  themselves  for- 
ward to  relate  marvelous  tales  to  the  authorities,  who 


266  NICOLAS   PERROT  [Vol. 

have  given  credence  to  them,  and,  thinking  to  act  for 
the  best  according  to  the  statements  made  to  them  by 
such  men,  have  brought  all  the  affairs  [of  the  frontiers] 
to  ruin,  and  have  reduced  them  to  so  pitiable  a  condition 
that  it  will  be  very  difficult  to  restore  them  [to  their 
former  state]  ?  It  has  been  proposed,  as  a  beginning, 
to  destroy  the  Renards,  in  order  to  cause  everything  to 
flourish;  I  have  presented  to  Monseigneur  de  Vaud- 
reuil  a  memoir  on  this  subject,  which  has  been  thwarted, 
since  it  has  not  produced  its  [intended]  effect.  He  has 
recognized,  by  the  consequences,  that  what  I  set  forth 
therein  has  come  to  pass,  to  the  detriment  of  the  colony. 
I  desire  that  all  may  go  well,  but  I  fear  the  contrary;  and 
I  dread  lest  the  proverb  used  in  the  world  may  prove 
true -that  is,  that  the  end  will  crown  the  work,  to  the 
advantage  of  some  others  than  of  the  colony.  I  am  un- 
willing to  write  down  what  I  foresee,  for  fear  of  [caus- 
ing] trouble  to  some  persons  who  bear  me  ill-will,  and 
who  nevertheless  would  in  the  long  run  admit  that  I  had 
told  the  truth. 

When  I  had  the  honor  of  being  commissioned  to  take 
charge  of  the  management  of  the  savages,  liberty  was 
allowed  me  to  tell  them  my  opinions  [frankly] ;  but 
there  are  some  jealous  persons  who  have  accused  me  of 
being  too  harsh  toward  them.  But  when  I  have  talked  se- 
riously to  the  savages  they  have  been  seen  to  come  to 
render  submission,  and  to  show  their  repentance  for 
their  fault. 

When  seven  of  the  Outaoiia  tribes  took  sides  with  the 
Irroquois,  Monsieur  de  Louvigny  sent  me  to  put  a  stop 
to  that  [1690  or  1694].  I  made  them  understand  that 
they  were  going  to  give  themselves  up  to  people  who 
would  eventually  destroy  them ;  and  that,  if  their  father 
Onontio  had  not  sustained  them,  they  would  be  all  de- 


one]        SAVAGE  INSOLENCE  AND  VAINGLORY          267 

stroyed  by  this  time.185  I  set  forth  to  them  the  treachery 
which  the  Irroquois  had  shown  to  the  Hurons  at  the 
time  when  the  Miamis  aided  in  destroying  them,  and 
united  with  them  without  showing  any  regard  for  the 
peace  which  they  had  formed  together. 

When  the  English  have  tried  to  entice  them  by  pres- 
ents (which  they  have  accepted)  I  have  made  them 
understand  that  they  were  going  to  become  allies  of  per- 
fidious people,  who  had  corrupted  part  of  the  tribes  who 
came  in  their  way;  and  that,  after  they  had  made  the 
men  tipsy,  they  had  sacrificed  and  carried  away  their 
wives  and  children  in  order  to  send  them  into  distant 
islands,  from  which  they  never  came  back.186  I  told 
them  that,  as  they  well  knew,  the  Irroquois  were  like 
children  of  the  English,  and,  in  concert  with  the  latter, 
would  not  have  failed  to  destroy  them  if  their  father 
Onontio  had  not  protected  and  defended  them;  and  that 
the  cheapness  of  their  goods  was  only  a  bait  of  which 
the  English  availed  themselves  to  become  their  masters, 
and  to  deliver  them  as  a  prey  to  the  Irroquois.  When 
they  have  tried  to  invent  reasons  for  beginning  war,  have 
I  not  explained  to  them  that  this  would  disturb  the  tran- 
quillity of  their  families,  and  that  they  ought  rather  to 
defend  these  and  themselves  against  the  Irroquois,  who 
are  altogether  enemies  to  them? 

In  all  their  enterprises  for  evil,  have  they  not  yielded 
to  my  opinion  that  they  should  desist  therefrom?  In 
the  absence  of  my  superiors,  I  have  always  talked  with 

iss  "This  mission,  with  which  Perrot  was  charged  by  Monsieur  de  Louvigny 
(between  1690  and  1694),  must  not  be  confounded  with  that  which  was  confided 
to  him  directly  by  the  Count  de  Frontenac  in  the  month  of  April,  1690,  and  of 
which  we  shall  speak  farther  on.  The  latter  was  addressed  to  all  the  tribes 
then  residing  at  Michillimakinak  or  in  its  vicinity."  —  TAILHAN. 

188  "Bancroft  makes  mention  (History  of  U.S.,  vol.  i,  chap,  v)  of  savages 
being  sold  as  slaves  by  the  English  of  Connecticut,  New  Hampshire,  the  Caro- 
linas,  and  Virginia."  -  TAILHAN. 


268  NICOLAS   PERROT  [Vol. 

the  savages  [as]  in  my  own  right;  and  it  is  this  which 
has  given  opportunity  to  the  envious  to  speak  evil  of 
me;  moreover,  it  is  from  this  [malicious  interference] 
that  have  proceeded  all  the  untoward  events  that  have 
since  occurred. 

If  I  had  gone  up  with  Monsieur  de  Louvigny  [1716, 
1717],  I  would  have  flattered  myself  that  I  could  in- 
duce the  Renards  to  ask  for  peace,  even  though  our 
allies  were  not  inclined  to  it. 

XXVIII.    Harangue  which  ought  to  have  been 

made  to  all  the  Outaoiia  Tribes,  in  order 

to  bind  them  to  the  peace  with  the 

Renards  and  their  allies 

"Listen,  my  children,"  says  our  father  Onontio,  "lis- 
ten," he  says:  "I  have  the  grief  of  hearing  every  year 
the  reports  and  accounts  of  massacres  that  are  com- 
mitted in  your  country  by  your  destroying  one  another; 
I  look  in  horror  at  the  blood  that  has  been  shed,  and 
which  will  yet  be  spilled.  If  I  do  not  put  an  end  to  it, 
I  am  certain  that  in  a  short  time  you  all  will  be  exter- 
minated, and  that  I  shall  no  longer  have  any  children. 
I  love  you  and  your  families,  and  I  desire  that  they 
[continue  to]  live. 

"Thou,  Outaoiiack,  art  making  war  on  the  Renard, 
who  has  spared  thy  life,  taking  thy  part  against  the 
Miamis  when  thou  didst  go  hunting  on  the  upper  Black 
River;187  for  he  would  have  killed  thee  if  it  had  not 
been  for  the  Renard  and  the  Kikapou,  who  opposed  his 
purpose. 

is?  "The  Black  River  has  its  source  in  a  lake  [Lake  Morrison,  in  Taylor 
County]  in  the  state  of  Wisconsin;  and,  after  flowing  through  a  part  of  that 
state  from  N.E.  to  S.W.,  falls  into  the  Mississippi  between  44°  5'  and  44°  15' 
north  latitude."  —  TAILHAN. 


one]     DISCOURSE  FOR  THE  OUTAOUA  TRIBES      269 

"Thou,  Saulteur,  hast  in  the  same  time  saved  the  lives 
of  all  the  people  who  lived  at  Mamekagan,  when  Chin-  /Vk 
gouabe  entreated  the  Miamis  to  go  to  eat  his  dogs.  He 
was  ready  to  betray  and  eat  thee  if  the  Renard,  whom 
thou  regardest  as  thine  enemy,  had  been  willing  to  agree 
to  thy  destruction.  Nevertheless,  thou  hast  slain  him; 
he  has  only  taken  vengeance  when  thou  hast  constrained 
him  to  do  so ;  but  he  has  willingly  restored  to  thee  thy 
people,  and  thou  still  detainest  his  men. 

"Thou,  Miamis,  knowest  that  the  Renard  has  never 
waged  war  against  thee;  but  he  sustained  and  aided 
thee  in  defending  thyself  when  thou  wast  routed  by  the 
Scioux.188 

"Thou,189  [Maskouten?],  art  not  ignorant  that  thy 
chiefs  died  from  a  malady,  when  the  Renard  went  to 
avenge  the  Miamis  of  the  Crane,190  who  would  have  been 
ruined  by  the  Scioux  if  the  Renard  had  not  taken  pity 

iss  "Chingouabe,  chief  of  the  Sauteurs  who  were  settled  at  Chagouamigon, 
figures  in  that  capacity  among  the  deputies  of  the  tribes  from  the  upper  country 
to  whom  the  Count  de  Frontenac  gave  audience  on  July  18  and  29,  1695.  From 
his  speech  on  that  occasion  it  is  evident  that  at  that  time  the  Sioux  were  at  war 
with  the  Outagamis  and  the  Maskoutens,  and  that  the  Sauteurs  were  inclined 
to  take  sides  with  the  Sioux  against  the  latter  tribes  (Relation  of  1694-1695;  in 
archives  of  the  Marine).  Unfortunately,  this  does  not  throw  much  light  on 
the  events  to  which  Perrot  alludes  in  this  passage.  The  one  that  follows  is 
much  more  clear,  and  finds  its  confirmation  in  contemporaneous  monuments,  or 
in  the  early  historians  of  Canada.  These  show  us  (i)  that  in  1697  the  Sioux 
had  already  twice  chastised  the  Miamis  (Relation  de  ce  qui  s'est  passe  au  Canada 
en  1696,  1697 \  in  archives  of  the  Marine)  ;  (2)  that  about  the  same  period  the 
Outagamis  with  the  Miamis  were  waging  war  against  the  Sioux  (La  Potherie, 
Histoire,  vol.  ii,  343-352) ;  (3)  that  the  same  thing  was  about  to  occur  again 
in  1701,  when  Monsieur  de  Courtemanche  (sent  by  Monsieur  de  Callieres,  gov- 
ernor of  New  France)  put  a  stop  to  the  expedition  that  was  ready  to  begin 
its  march  (Letter  of  Callieres,  Oct  i,  1701)."  — TAILHAN. 

189  "The  name  is  left  blank  in  the  Ms.     This  passage  refers,  I  think,  to 
the  Maskoutens,  of  whom  a  great  number  were  swept  away  by  a  contagious 
malady   at  the  time    (1690)    vaguely  indicated  by  the   author    (La  Potherie, 
Histoire,  vol.  ii,  249,  250) ."  —  TAILHAN. 

190  «i  leave  to  those  persons  who  are  versed  in  the  Illinois  or  the  Miami 
language  the  care  of  finding,  among  the  savage  names  given  to  the  tribes  of 
this   latter  people,   the   one  which  corresponds  to  the   French    appellation  of 


270  NICOLAS   PERROT  [Vol. 

on  them.  He  won  their  good-will  by  presents,  and  con- 
firmed the  alliance  that  thou  didst  contract  with  him; 
and  with  him  thou  hast  never  had  war,  any  more  than 
with  the  Kikapou,  who  has  always  dwelt  in  the  same 
village  with  thee.  On  the  contrary,  the  other  Mi  amis 
have  slain  the  relatives  of  thy  people,  this  winter. 

"Thou,  Illinoets,  hast  never  had  war  with  the  Renard, 
or  with  the  Kikapou;  thou  didst,  notwithstanding,  at- 
tack him  when  he  was  at  Detroit.  He  defended  himself, 
and  you  have  slain  each  other;  thou  didst  take  thy 
revenge  when  he  was  defeated  at  Detroit,  and  when  he 
returned  to  his  own  country.  He  captured  one  of  thy 
chiefs,  whom  he  sent  back;  and  thou  didst  break  the 
heads  of  his  envoys ;  thou  shouldst  be  content. 

"Thou,  Pouteoiiatamis,  thy  tribe  is  half  Sakis;  the 
Sakis  are  in  part  Renards;  thy  cousins  and  thy  brothers- 
in-law  are  Renards  and  Sakis.  Pirimon  and  Ouenemek, 
who  are  thy  chiefs,  and  who  weep  over  the  murders  that 
are  committed  in  thy  families,  one  against  another,  these 
men  are  of  the  Sakis.  I  love  you  all,"  says  your  father 
Onontio,  "and  I  desire  to  extinguish  the  fires  of  war, 
which  are  burning  so  high  that,  besides  those  people 
who  have  been  [already]  consumed  by  them  from  all  of 
you,  they  will  not  fail  to  consume  all  who  remain,  on 
both  sides,  if  I  do  not  extinguish  them. 

"Thou,  Huron,  be  content;  thou  hast  lost  thy  people, 
but  thou  shouldst  [not?]  be  avenged.  Thou  art  too 

'Miamis  of  the  Crane,'  by  which  Perrot  here  designates  one  among  those 
tribes."  —  TAILHAN. 

Perrot  here  alludes  to  the  Crane  clan  of  the  Miami,  the  principal  division 
of  that  tribe;  they  are  called  Atchatchakangouen  by  Allouez  (Jesuit  Relations, 
vol.  Iviii,  40,  41),  and  Tchidiiakouingoues  by  La  Potherie,  Histoire,  vol.  ii, 
261).  Mooney  says  of  them  (Handbook  Amer.  Indians,  107):  "On  account 
of  the  hostility  of  the  Illinois  they  removed  west  of  the  Mississippi,  where  they 
were  attacked  by  the  Sioux;  and  they  afterward  settled  near  the  Jesuit  mission 
at  Green  Bay,  and  moved  thence  into  Illinois  and  Indiana  with  the  rest  of  the 
tribe."  -  ED. 


one]     DISCOURSE  FOR  THE  OUTAOUA  TRIBES      271 

cruel;  remember  what  thou  hast  done  against  me  and 
against  my  children  thine  allies,  when  I  have  come  for- 
ward for  thee  against  all,  and  when  I  protected  thee- 
and  if  I  had  not  shielded  thee  thou  wouldst  no  longer  be 
alive.  Thou  didst  endeavor  to  betray  me  on  a  certain 
occasion,  and  I  pardoned  thee,  in  order  to  secure  thy 
gratitude. 

"Thou,  Outaoiiack,  didst  slay  the  Miamis  at  Detroit, 
who  were  under  my  protection;  and  thou  didst,  at  the 
same  time,  assassinate  some  Frenchmen  there  and  else- 
where. 

"Thou,  Saulteur,  hast  likewise  slain  some  French- 
men; and  thou,  Missisakis,  hast  done  the  same.  But  I 
have  swallowed  the  grief  that  I  felt  over  my  dead,  and 
have  not  chastised  thee;  and  thou,  Miamis,  likewise;  I 
have  pardoned  all.  Indeed,  far  from  taking  my  ven- 
geance, I  have  aided  you  against  the  Irroquois,  who  was 
one  of  my  faithful  children,  whom  you  have  slain;  but 
he  has  never  made  any  disturbance  since  the  latest  agree- 
ment of  peace,  which  I  obliged  him  to  make  with  you, 
and  without  which  all  of  you  would  have  been  destroyed. 
For  he  was  quite  able  to  ruin  you,  without  obtaining 
from  me  more  than  my  willingness  and  consent.  On 
the  contrary,  in  order  to  maintain  you  I  have  furnished 
not  only  the  assistance  of  my  military  power,  but  also 
my  young  men,  who  have  been  everywhere  slain  for 
your  sake.  I  have  even  aided  you  against  the  Renard, 
who  has  never  slain  my  young  men. 

"I  ordain,  my  children,  that  you  put  an  end  to  this 
war;  and  if  any  one  disobeys  me  I  shall  declare  myself 
against  him,  and  for  the  Renard." 

[If  this  had  been  done],  all  the  tribes  would  have 

191  "The  colonial  government  followed  an  entirely  opposite  policy,  and 
declared  itself  against  the  Outagamis,  but  it  was  never  able  either  to  reduce 
them  to  submission  or  to  destroy  them  wholly."  —  TAILHAN.  _  / 


272  NICOLAS   PERROT 

consented  to  peace.  This  is  why  we  ought  not  to  fear 
reproaching  them  for  their  faults,  any  more  than  to  re- 
mind them  of  the  services  that  we  have  rendered  to 
them ;  for  it  is  characteristic  of  the  savage  not  to  forget 
the  benefit  that  has  been  conferred  upon  him,  on  the 
occasions  that  have  arisen. 

Here  then,  Monseigneur,  are  my  humble  ideas,  which 
would  have  had  their  good  results  if  I  had  accompanied 
Monsieur  de  Louvigny.  As  for  the  Renards,  I  would 
certainly  have  managed  affairs  with  them. 

The  scarcity  of  paper  does  not  permit  me  to  give 
fuller  examples  of  this  sort  of  harangue,  as  I  would  have 
been  able  to  if  I  were  not  destitute  of  paper. 


HISTORY  OF  THE  SAVAGE  PEO- 

ples  who  are  allies  of  New  France.  By 
Claude  Charles  Le  Roy,  Bacqueville 
de  la  Potherie  192  [from  his  Histoire 
de  I'Amerique  septentrionale  (Paris, 
I753)?  tome  ii  and  iv]. 

The  second  volume  of  the  above  work  is  here 
presented  for  the  first  time  in  English  translation, 
partly  in  full  and  partly  in  synopsis  — the  latter 
indicated  by  bracketed  paragraphs. 


192  Claude  Charles  Le  Roy,  Bacqueville  de  la  Potherie  was  born  in  the  West- 
Indian  island  of  Guadeloupe,  about  1668.  His  family  was  allied  to  the 
noted  one  of  Pontchartrain ;  and  La  Potherie  obtained  thus  appointments  in  the 
marine  service  from  1689  on.  The  first  important  one  was  a  post  in  the 
squadron  sent  under  the  noted  commander  Le  Moyne  d'Iberville  (1697)  to  drive 
the  English  out  of  Hudson  Bay.  In  the  following  year  La  Potherie  was  ap- 
pointed comptroller-general  of  the  marine  and  fortifications  in  Canada,  the 
first  incumbent  of  a  newly-created  post.  In  1700  he  married  a  lady  belonging 
to  one  of  the  leading  Canadian  families,  and  apparently  intended  to  settle  per- 
manently in  that  colony;  but  in  the  following  year  the  deaths  of  his  father  and 
brother  recalled  him  to  Guadeloupe.  Almost  nothing  is  known  of  his  subse- 
quent life,  save  that  both  he  and  his  wife  had  died  by  the  year  1738;  and  before 
the  end  of  the  century  the  family  had  disappeared  from  Canada.  See  J.  Ed- 
mond  Roy's  biography  of  La  Potherie,  and  description  of  his  work,  in  Proceed- 
ings and  Transactions  of  the  Royal  Society  of  Canada,  second  series,  vol.  iii, 
3-44.  Therein  Roy  has  neglected  to  account  for  the  appellation  "Bacqueville" 
in  La  Potherie's  name;  but  he  cites  a  document  (dated  1738)  in  which  that 
writer's  son  is  called  "seigneur  de  Bacqueville  et  de  la  Touche  en  Touraine," 
apparently  showing  that  an  estate  of  that  name  in  France  belonged  to  the 
family  from  which  he  sprang.  —  ED. 


HISTORY  OF  THE  SAVAGE  PEOPLES  WHO 
ARE  ALLIES  OF  NEW  FRANCE 

Chapters  I-VII  | 

[These  chapters,  up  to  page  60,  are  devoted  to  an 
account  of  the  beliefs,  customs,  mode  of  life,  etc.,  of  the 
Indian  tribes  then  known  to  the  French  of  Canada,  with 
an  enumeration  of  those  peoples,  and  brief  mention  of 
the  first  acquaintance  of  the  French  with  those  who 
lived  east  of  Lake  Huron.  Most  of  this  is  so  similar  to 
Perrot's  account  that  to  translate  it  here  would  be  use- 
less repetition.  Accordingly,  the  narrative  begins  at 
page  60,  with  the  tribes  which  properly  are  included 
within  the  field  of  the  present  work.] 

The  Sauteurs,  who  live  beyond  the  Missisakis,  take 
their  name  from  a  fall  of  water  which  forms  the  dis- 
charge of  Lake  Superior  into  Lake  Huron,  through 
extensive  rapids  of  which  the  ebullitions  are  extremely 
violent.  Those  people  are  very  skilful  in  a  fishery  which  , 
they  carry  on  there,  of  fish  which  are  white,  and  as 
large  as  salmon. 193  The  savages  surmount  all  those  ter- 

A'VvV/l  t'tvfc; 

193  The  noted  whitefish  of  the  lakes  (Coregonus  albus)  ;  it  was  called  by  the 
Chippewa  atikameg  (meaning  "caribou  fish"),  from  which  one  of  the  Mon- 
tagnais  tribes  was  called  Attikamegues  (the  Poissons-blancs,  or  "whitefish," 
by  the  French).  Another  species  (C.  tullibee)  is  found  in  the  great  lakes  and 
rivers  of  N.W.  Canada;  it  is  of  inferior  quality,  with  watery  flesh,  and  is 
known  as  "mongrel  whitefish,"  also  as  toulibi  or  tulibee,  corruptions  of  the 
Chippewa  word  otonabi.  —  A.  F.  CHAMBERLAIN,  in  Handbook  Amer.  Indians. 

In  the  Proceedings  of  the  U.S.  National  Museum  for  1909  (vol.  xxxvi,  171, 
172)  is  a  note  on  this  fish  by  David  S.  Jordan  and  B.  W.  Evermann,  to  the 
following  effect:  The  common  whitefish  of  Lake  Superior  is  the  so-called 
"Labrador  whitefish"  (Coregonus  labradoricus] ,  characteristic  of  the  Canadian 


276  LA  POTHERIE  [Vol. 

rible  cascades,  into  which  they  cast  a  net19*  which  re- 
sembles a  bag,  a  little  more  than  half  an  ell  in  width 
and  an  ell  deep,  attached  to  a  wooden  fork  about  fifteen 
feet  long.  They  cast  their  nets  headlong  into  the  boil- 
ing waters,  in  which  they  maintain  their  position,  let- 
ting their  canoes  drift  while  sliding  backward.  The 
tumult  of  the  waters  in  which  they  are  floating  seems 
to  them  only  a  diversion ;  they  see  in  it  the  fish,  heaped 
up  on  one  another,  that  are  endeavoring  to  force  their 
way  through  the  rapids;  and  when  they  feel  their  nets 
heavy  they  draw  them  in.  It  is  only  they,  the  Missisakis, 
and  the  Nepiciriniens  who  can  practice  this  fishery,  al- 
though some  Frenchmen  imitate  them.  This  kind  of 
fish  is  large,  has  firm  flesh,  and  is  very  nourishing.  The 
savages  dry  it  over  a  fire,  on  wooden  frames  placed  high 
above,  and  keep  it  for  winter.  They  carry  on  an  exten- 
sive traffic  in  this  fish  at  Michillimakinak,  where  both 
the  savages  and  the  French  buy  it  at  a  high  price.  This 
[Sauteur]  tribe  is  divided :  part  of  them  have  remained 
at  home  to  live  on  this  delicious  fish  in  autumn,  and  they 

lakes  generally,  and  only  this  kind  is  found  at  Sault  Ste.  Marie;  it  is  appar- 
ently distinct  from  the  whitefish  of  Lakes  Erie  and  Ontario.  "The  Lake  Su- 
perior whitefish  must  stand  as  Coregonus  clupeiformis ;  the  whitefish  of  Lake 
Erie  is  C.  albus."  —  ED. 

194  Nets,  netting,  or  network  were  used  throughout  northern  America  by 
its  natives  —  for  the  capture  of  animals  (differing  according  to  the  creature  to  be 
caught,  the  form,  or  the  function),  "for  the  lacings  of  snowshoes  and  lacrosse 
sticks,  for  carrying-frames  and  wallets,  for  netted  caps,  for  the  foundation  of 
feather  work,"  etc.  "These  were  made  from  animal  tissues  and  vegetal  fibers  — 
wool  and  hair,  hide,  sinew,  and  intestines;  roots,  stems,  bast,  bark,  and  leaves. 
Animal  skins  were  cut  into  long  delicate  strips,  while  sinew  and  vegetal 
fibers  were  separated  into  filaments,  and  these  twisted,  twined,  or  braided  and 
made  into  openwork  meshes  by  a  series  of  technical  processes  ranging  from  the 
simplest  weaving  or  coiling  without  foundation  to  regular  knotting."  They 
were  made  most  often  by  the  women's  hands,  but  also  with  many  forms  of  the 
seine  needle,  or  shuttle ;  and  the  meshing  shows  a  variety  of  processes.  Holmes 
has  shown,  in  his  studies  of  ancient  American  pottery,  that  netting  was 
used  to  provide  ornament  on  vessels  of  clay,  by  molding  them  in  it;  and  the 
same  forms  of  netting  are  used  in  ancient  garments,  especially  those  into  which 
feathers  were  woven.  —  OTIS  T.  MASON,  in  Handbook  Amer.  Indians. 


one]  SAVAGE  ALLIES  OF  NEW  FRANCE  277 

seek  their  food  in  Lake  Huron  during  the  winter;  the 
others  have  gone  away  to  two  localities  on  Lake  Supe- 
rior, in  order  to  live  on  the  game  which  is  very  abun- 
dant there.  Those  who  left  their  natal  soil  made  an\ 
alliance  with  the  Nadouaissioux,  who  were  not  very 
solicitous  for  the  friendship  of  any  one  whomsoever; 
but,  because  they  could  obtain  French  merchandise  only 
through  the  agency  of  the  Sauteurs,  they  made  a  treaty 
of  peace  with  the  latter  by  which  they  were  mutually 
bound  to  give  their  daughters  in  marriage  on  both  sides. 
That  was  a  strong  bond  for  the  maintenance  of  entire  X 
harmony. 

The  Nadouaissioux,  who  have  their  village  on  the 
upper  Missisipi  about  the  latitude  of  46°,195  divided 

195  "The  Siouan  family  is  the  most  populous  linguistic  family  north  of 
Mexico,  next  to  the  Algonquian."  The  name  is  taken  from  Sioux,  an  appella- 
tion of  the  Dakota  (the  largest  and  best-known  tribal  group  of  the  family) 
abbreviated  from  Nadouessioux,  a  French  corruption  of  the  name  (Nadoive- 
is-i<w)  given  them  by  the  Chippewa ;  it  signifies  "snake"  or  adder,  and  meta- 
phorically "enemy."  "Before  changes  of  domicile  took  place  among  them, 
resulting  from  the  contact  with  whites,  the  principal  body  extended  from  the 
west  bank  of  the  Mississippi  northward  from  the  Arkansa  nearly  to  the  Rocky 
Mountains,  except  for  certain  sections  held  by  the  Pawnee,  Arikara,  Cheyenne, 
Arapaho,  Blackfeet,  Comanche,  and  Kiowa.  The  Dakota  proper  also  occupied 
territory  on  the  east  side  of  the  river,  from  the  mouth  of  the  Wisconsin  to  Mille 
Lacs;  and  the  Winnebago  were  about  the  lake  of  that  name  and  the  head  of 
Green  Bay.  Northward  Siouan  tribes  extended  some  distance  into  Canada,  in 
the  direction  of  Lake  Winnipeg.  A  second  group  of  Siouan  tribes,  embracing 
the  Catawba,  Sara  or  Cheraw,  Saponi,  Tutelo,  and  several  others,  occupied  the 
central  part  of  North  Carolina  and  South  Carolina  and  the  piedmont  region  of 
Virginia;  while  a  third,  of  which  the  Biloxi  were  the  most  prominent  repre- 
sentatives, dwelt  in  Mississippi  along  the  Gulf  coast.  .  .  The  Dakota 
formerly  inhabited  the  forest  region  of  southern  Minnesota,  and  do  not  seem  to 
have  gone  out  upon  the  plains  until  hard  pressed  by  the  Chippewa,  who  had 
been  supplied  with  guns  by  the  French.  According  to  every  fragment  of 
evidence,  traditional  and  otherwise,  the  so-called  Chiwere  tribes  —  Iowa,  Oto, 
and  Missouri  — separated  from  the  Winnebago  or  else  moved  westward  to 
the  Missouri  from  the  same  region.  .  .  As  to  the  more  remote  migrations 
that  must  have  taken  place  in  such  a  widely  scattered  stock,  different  theories 
are  held.  By  some  it  is  supposed  that  the  various  sections  of  the  family  have 
become  dispersed  from  a  district  near  that  occupied  by  the  Winnebago,  or,  on 
the  basis  of  traditions  recorded  by  Gallatin  and  Long,  from  some  point  on  the 


278  LA  POTHERIE  [Vol. 

their  territory  and  their  hunting-grounds  with  the  Sau- 
teurs.  The  abundance  of  beaver  and  deer  made  the 
latter  gradually  forget  their  native  land.  They  spent 

north  side  of  the  great  lakes.  By  others  a  region  close  to  the  eastern  Siouans 
[of  Virginia  and  Carolina]  is  considered  their  primitive  home,  whence  the 
Dhegiha  [the  Omaha,  Ponca,  Osage,  Kansa,  and  Quapaw]  moved  westward 
dawn  the  Ohio,  while  the  Dakota,  Winnebago,  and  cognate  tribes  kept  a  more 
northerly  course  near  the  great  lakes.  .  .  The  earliest  notice  of  the  main  north- 
western group  is  probably  that  in  the  Jesuit  Relation  of  1640,  where  mention  is 
made  of  the  Winnebago,  Dakota,  and  Assiniboin.  As  early  as  1658  the  Jesuit 
missionaries  had  learned  of  the  existence  of  thirty  Dakota  villages  in  the 
region  north  from  the  Potawatomi  mission  at  St.  Michael,  about  the  head  of 
Green  Bay,  Wis,  In  1680  Father  Hennepin  was  taken  prisoner  by  the  same 
tribe.  In  1804-1805  Lewis  and  Clark  passed  through  the  center  of  this  region 
and  encountered  most  of  the  Siouan  tribes.  Afterward  expeditions  into  and 
through  their  country  were  numerous;  traders  settled  among  them  in  numbers, 
and  were  followed  in  course  of  time  by  permanent  settlers,  who  pressed  them 
into  narrower  and  narrower  areas  until  they  were  finally  removed  to  Indian 
Territory  or  confined  to  reservations  in  the  Dakotas,  Nebraska,  and  Montana. 
Throughout  all  this  period  the  Dakota  proved  themselves  most  consistently 
hostile  to  the  intruders.  .  .  Later  still  the  Ghost-dance  religion  spread  among 
the  northern  Siouan  tribes  and  culminated  in  the  affair  of  Wounded  Knee, 
Dec.  29,  1890." 

"It  is  well-nigh  impossible  to  make  statements  of  the  customs  and  habits  of 
these  people  that  will  be  true  for  the  entire  group.  Nearly  all  the  eastern  tribes 
and  most  of  the  southern  tribes  belonging  to  the  western  group  raised  corn; 
but  the  Dakota  (except  some  of  the  eastern  bands)  and  the  Crows  depended 
almost  entirely  on  the  buffalo  and  other  game  animals,  the  buffalo  entering  very 
deeply  into  the  economic  and  religious  life  of  all  the  tribes  of  this  section.  In 
the  east  the  habitations  were  bark  and  mat  wigwams,  but  on  the  plains  earth 
lodges  and  skin  tipis  were  used.  Formerly  they  had  no  domestic  animals  except 
dogs,  which  were  utilized  in  transporting  the  tipis  and  all  other  family  be- 
longings, including  children;  but  later  their  places  were  largely  taken  by 
horses,  the  introduction  of  which  constituted  a  new  epoch  in  the  life  of  all 
Plains  tribes,  facilitating  their  migratory  movements  and  the  pursuit  of  the 
buffalo,  and  doubtless  contributing  largely  to  the  ultimate  extinction  of  that 
animal.  Taking  the  reports  of  the  United  States  and  Canadian  Indian  offices 
as  a  basis  and  making  a  small  allowance  for  bands  or  individuals  not  here 
enumerated,  the  total  number  of  Indians  belonging  to  the  Siouan  stock  may  be 
placed  at  about  40,800.  The  Tutelo,  Biloxi,  and  probably  the  rest  of  the 
eastern  Siouan  tribes  were  organized  internally  into  clans  with  maternal 
descent;  the  Dakota,  Mandan,  Hidatsa,  and  Crow  consisted  of  many  non-totemic 
bands  or  villages,  and  the  rest  of  the  tribes  of  totemic  gentes.  The  Siouan 
family  is  divided  as  follows:"  i,  Dakota-Assiniboin  group;  2,  Dhegiha 
group;  3,  Chiwere  group;  4,  Winnebago;  5,  Mandan;  6,  Hidatsa  group;  7, 
Biloxi  group;  8,  Eastern  division  (of  which  but  a  few  scattered  remnants 
survive).  — J.  R.  SWANTON,  in  Handbook  Amer.  Indians. 


one]  SAVAGE  ALLIES  OF  NEW  FRANCE  279 

the  winter  in  the  woods  to  carry  on  their  hunting;  and  in 
the  spring  they  visit  Lake  Superior,  on  the  shore  of 
which  they  plant  corn  and  squashes.  There  they  spend 
the  summer  in  great  peace,  without  being  disturbed  by 
any  neighbor,  although  the  Nadouaissioux  are  at  war 
with  the  people  of  the  north.  The  Sauteurs  are  neu- 
tral; and  the  tribe  that  goes  to  war  always  takes  care 
beforehand  that  there  is  no  Sauteur  [involved  in  it]. 
Their  harvest  being  gathered,  they  return  to  their  hunt-  Y 
ing-grounds.* 

Those  who  have  remained  at  the  Saut,  their  native 
country,  leave  their  villages  twice  a  year.  In  the 
month  of  June  they  disperse  in  all  directions  along 
Lake  Huron,  as  also  do  the  Missisakis  and  the  Otter 
People.196  This  lake  has  rocky  shores,  and  is  full  of 

*  The  reason  for  this  frequentation  of  the  Lake  Superior  shore  by  the  Indians 
for  the  cultivation  of  corn  and  other  crops  may  be  found  in  the  following  de- 
scription by  G.  W.  Perry  in  Transactions  of  Wisconsin  State  Horticultural  Soci- 
ety for  1877,  pp.  178,  179:  "The  south  shore  of  Lake  Superior,  in  Wisconsin, 
rises  rapidly  from  the  level  of  the  lake  to  the  dividing  ridge  which  separates 
the  waters  of  the  Gulfs  of  St.  Lawrence  and  Mexico,  an  average  distance  of 
less  than  twenty  miles,  the  elevation  ranging  from  five  hundred  feet  in  Douglas 
County  to  perhaps  twelve  hundred  in  the  eastern  portion  of  Ashland  County. 
The  soil  on  the  northern  slope  is  clay  to  the  depth  of  sixty  feet  in  Douglas 
County;  sand  overlying  clay,  in  Bayfield  County;  and  in  Ashland,  a  loam  of 
sand  and  clay.  The  clay  generally  carries  so  much  lime  as  to  be  unfit  for 
brick,  but  this  defect  is  compensated  by  its  greatly  increased  fertility.  Every 
indigenous  plant  grows  with  amazing  rapidity,  in  the  long  days  of  the  short, 
fierce  summers;  while  all  grasses  and  cereals,  including  the  hardier  varieties 
of  corn,  yield  abundantly,  crops  of  superior  quality."  Keweenaw  Point  is  some 
sixty  miles  long,  and  only  five  miles  wide  at  its  extremity;  it  varies  in  height 
from  700  to  1,000  feet,  and  is  nearly  surrounded  by  water.  Here  "the  soil  is 
sandy  loam,  and  never  freezes,  being  protected  by  six  feet  of  snow,  and  is  very 
fertile  — the  long  days  of  summer  (nineteen  hours  of  daylight  at  the  solstice) 
seeming  to  force  the  growth  of  every  plant  adapted  to  the  locality.  Here  is  the 
very  paradise  of  the  strawberry  and  the  red  raspberry,  the  service-berry,  wild 
cherry,  gooseberry,  and  huckleberries  of  four  distinct  varieties,  all  indigenous." 

-ED. 

196  The  Missisauga  (Missisakis)  were  originally  part  of  the  Chippewa;  they 
dwelt  along  the  north  shore  of  Lake  Huron,  and  gradually  drifted  southward 
into  the  ancient  Huron  country  between  Georgian  Bay  and  Lake  Erie.  About 
1746-1750  they  aided  the  Iroquois  against  the  French,  and  most  of  them  were 


28o  LA  POTHERIE  [Vol. 

small  islands  abounding  in  blueberries.  While  there 
they  gather  sheets  of  bark  from  the  trees  for  making 
their  canoes  and  building  their  cabins.  The  water  of 
the  lake  is  very  clear,  and  they  can  see  the  fish  in  it  at  a 
depth  of  twenty-five  feet.  While  the  children  are 
gathering  a  store  of  blueberries,  the  men  are  busy  in 
spearing  sturgeon.  When  the  grain  [that  they  have 
planted]  is  nearly  ripe,  they  return  home.  At  the  ap- 
proach of  winter  they  resort  to  the  shores  of  the  lake 
to  kill  beavers  and  moose,  and  do  not  return  thence  until 
the  spring,  in  order  to  plant  their  Indian  corn. 

Such  is  the  occupation  of  those  peoples,  who  could 
live  in  great  comfort  if  they  were  economical;  but  all 
the  savages,  especially  all  the  Sauteurs,  are  so  fond  of 
eating  that  they  take  little  heed  for  the  morrow,  and 
there  are  many  of  them  who  die  of  hunger.  They  never 
lay  by  anything  whatever;  if  any  food  remains,  it  is  be- 
cause they  have  not  been  able  to  eat  all  of  it  in  the  day. 
They  are  even  so  proud,  when  some  stranger  comes 
among  them,  as  to  give  him  even  the  last  morsel  of  food, 
in  order  to  make  it  appear  that  they  are  not  in  poverty; 
but  they  do  not  hesitate  to  complain  of  hunger  when 
they  see  Frenchmen  whom  they  know  to  be  well  sup- 
plied with  provisions.  The  Sauteurs  were  redoubtable 
to  their  enemies.  They  were  the  first  to  defeat  the 
Irroquois,  who  to  the  number  of  a  hundred  warriors 
came  to  take  possession  of  one  of  their  villages.  Hear- 

driven  out  of  their  country  by  the  latter,  and  settled  at  first  near  Detroit,  and 
later  in  western  New  York,  near  the  Senecas;  but  their  alliance  with  the 
Iroquois  lasted  only  rill  the  outbreak  of  the  French  and  Indian  War  a  few 
years  later.  Those  who  still  remain  live  north  of  Lake  Erie,  and  in  1906  num- 
bered 810.  Part  of  these,  living  in  the  township  of  New  Credit  (which  is 
entirely  an  Indian  settlement)  "are  the  most  advanced  of  the  Missisauga  and 
represent  one  of  the  most  successful  attempts  of  any  American  Indian  group 
to  assimilate  the  culture  of  the  whites.  The  Indian  inhabitants  have  often  won 
prizes  against  white  competitors  at  the  agricultural  fairs."  — JAMES  MOONEV  and 
CYRUS  THOMAS,  in  Handbook  Amer.  Indians. 


one]  SAVAGE  ALLIES  OF  NEW  FRANCE  281 

ing  of  the  enemy's  march,  fifty  Sauteur  fighting  men 
went  to  meet  them  who,  under  the  cover  of  a  very  dense 
fog,  entirely  defeated  them,  although  their  young  men 
gave  way  [in  the  battle],  and  only  thirty  men  remained ; 
and  they  had  for  arms  only  arrows  and  tomahawks,  while 
the  Irroquois  relied  much  on  their  firearms.  The  Sau- 
teurs  dealt  quite  heavy  blows  on  the  Nadouaissioux  when 
those  tribes  were  at  war;  but  since  the  peace  was  made 
the  bravest  warriors  are  dead,  and  the  rest  have  degener- 
ated from  the  valor  of  their  ancestors,  and  devote 
themselves  solely  to  the  destruction  of  wild  animals. 

The  Hurons,  Outaoiiaks,  Cinagos,  Kiskakons,  and 
Nansouaketons  usually  make  their  abode  at  Michilima- 
kinak,197  and  leave  the  greater  part  of  their  families 
there  during  the  winter,  when  they  are  away  hunting; 

197  Ottawa  (meaning  "traders"),  "a  term  common  to  the  Cree,  Algonkin, 
Nipissing,  Montagnais,  Ottawa,  and  Chippewa,  and  applied  to  the  Ottawa" 
because  "they  were  noted  among  their  neighbors  as  intertribal  traders  and 
barterers."  The  Jesuit  Relation  of  1667  states  that  "the  Ottawa  (Outaoiiacs) 
claimed  that  the  great  river  (Ottawa?)  belonged  to  them,  and  that  no  other 
nation  might  navigate  it  without  their  consent;"  therefore  all  those  who  went 
down  to  trade  with  the  French,  although  of  different  tribes,  "bore  the  name 
Ottawa,  under  whose  auspices  the  journey  was  undertaken.  .  .  According  to 
tradition  the  Ottawa,  Chippewa,  and  Potawatomi  tribes  of  the  Algonquian 
family  were  former ly  one  people  who  came  from  some  point  north  of  the  great 
lakes  and  separated  at  Mackinaw,  Mich.  The  Ottawa  were  located  by  the 
earliest  writers  and  also  by  tradition  on  Manitoulin  Island,  and  also  the 
north  and  south  shores  of  Georgian  Bay."  They  fled  westward  from  the 
attacks  of  the  Iroquois  in  the  middle  of  the  seventeenth  century,  and  spent 
some  twenty  years  in  northern  Wisconsin;  in  1670-1671  they  returned  to  Mani- 
toulin Island;  but  by  1680  most  of  them  had  joined  the  Hurons  at  Mackinaw, 
whence  they  gradually  spread  down  Lake  Huron  and  along  the  east  shore  of 
Lake  Michigan,  and  even  into  the  region  adjoining  Chicago;  and  their  villages 
were  mingled  with  those  of  their  old  allies  the  Hurons,  along  the  south  shore 
of  Lake  Erie.  The  Ottawa  were  prominent  in  all  the  Indian  wars  up  to  1812, 
and  the  noted  Pontiac,  leader  in  the  war  of  1763  around  Detroit,  was  a  chief 
of  their  tribe.  Some  of  them  removed  to  Canada  after  the  cessation  of  hos- 
tilities between  the  United  States  and  Great  Britain ;  those  along  the  west  shore 
of  Lake  Michigan  ceded  their  lands  to  the  United  States  by  the  Chicago  treaty 
of  Sept.  26,  1833,  and  agreed  to  remove  to  lands  granted  them  in  north- 
eastern Kansas;  those  in  northern  Ohio  went  west  of  the  Mississippi  about 
1832,  and  are  now  living  in  Oklahoma;  but  the  great  body  of  the  Ottawa 


282  LA  POTHERIE  [Vol. 

for  these  they  reserve  the  slenderest  provision  of  grain, 
and  sell  the  rest  at  a  high  price. 

Michilimakinak,  which  is  three  hundred  and  sixty 
leagues  from  Quebec,  is  the  general  meeting-place  for 
all  the  French  who  go  to  trade  with  stranger  tribes ;  it  is 
the  landing-place  and  refuge  of  all  the  savages  who 
trade  their  peltries.  The  savages  who  dwell  there  do 
not  need  to  go  hunting  in  order  to  obtain  all  the  comforts 
of  life.  When  they  choose  to  work,  they  make  canoes  of 
birch-bark,  which  they  sell  two  at  three  hundred  livres 
each.  They  get  a  shirt  for  two  sheets  of  bark  for  cabins. 
The  sale  of  their  French  strawberries  and  other  fruits 
produces  means  for  procuring  their  ornaments,  which 
consist  of  vermilion  and  glass  and  porcelain  beads.  They 
make  a  profit  on  everything.  They  catch  whitefish,  her- 
ring, and  trout  four  to  five  feet  long.  All  the  tribes 
land  at  this  place,  in  order  to  trade  their  peltries  there. 
In  summer  the  young  men  go  hunting,  a  distance  of 

'  "remained  in  the  lower  peninsula  of  Michigan,  where  they  are  still  found 
scattered  in  a  number  of  small  villages  and  settlements.  .  .  Charlevoix  says 
the  Ottawa  were  one  of  the  rudest  nations  of  Canada,  cruel  and  barbarous  to 
an  unusual  degree,  and  sometimes  guilty  of  cannibalism.  Bacqueville  de  la 
Potherie  says  they  were  formerly  very  rude,  but  by  intercourse  with  the  Hurons 
they  have  become  more  intelligent,  imitating  their  valor,  making  themselves 
formidable  to  all  the  tribes  with  whom  they  were  at  enmity,  and  respected  by 
those  with  whom  they  were  in  alliance.  It  was  said  of  them  in  1859:  'This 
people  is  still  advancing  in  agricultural  pursuits;  they  may  be  said  to  have 
entirely  abandoned  the  chase ;  all  of  them  live  in  good,  comfortable  log  cabins  ; 
have  fields  inclosed  with  rail  fences,  and  own  domestic  animals.'  The  Ottawa 
were  expert  canoemen;  as  a  means  of  defense  they  sometimes  built  forts,  prob- 
ably similar  to  those  of  the  Hurons."  In  the  latter  part  of  the  seventeenth 
century  there  were  four  divisions  of  this  tribe:  Kiskakon,  Sinago,  Nassawaketon 
(French,  Gens  de  la  Fourche,  "people  of  the  Fork"),  and  Sable;  and  another  is 
sometimes  named  the  Keinouche  (or  "Pickerel"),  on  the  south  shore  of  Lake 
Superior.  "The  population  of  the  different  Ottawa  groups  is  not  known  with 
certainty.  In  1906  the  Chippewa  and  Ottawa  on  Manitoulin  and  Cockburn 
Islands,  Canada,  were  1,497,  of  whom  about  half  were  Ottawa;  there  were 
197  under  the  Seneca  school,  Okla.,  and  in  Michigan  5,587  scattered  Chippewa 
and  Ottawa  in  1900,  of  whom  about  two-thirds  are  Ottawa.  The  total  there- 
fore is  about  4,700."  —  JAMES  MOONEY  and  J.  N.  B.  HEWITT,  in  Handbook  Amer. 
Indians. 


one]  SAVAGE  ALLIES  OF  NEW  FRANCE  283 

thirty  to  forty  leagues,  and  return  laden  with  game;  in 
autumn  they  depart  for  the  winter  hunt  (which  is  the 
best  [time  of  the  year]  for  the  skins  and  furs),  and  re- 
turn in  the  spring  laden  with  beavers,  pelts,  various 
kinds  of  fat,  and  the  flesh  of  bears  and  deer.  They  sell 
all  of  which  they  have  more  than  enough.  They  would 
be  exceedingly  well-to-do  if  they  were  economical ;  but 
most  of  them  have  the  same  traits  as  the  Sauteurs. 

The  Hurons  are  more  provident;  they  think  of  the 
future,  and  they  support  their  families.  As  they  are 
sober,  it  is  seldom  that  they  suffer  from  poverty.  This 
tribe  is  very  politic,  treacherous  in  their  actions,  and 
proud  in  all  their  behavior;  they  have  more  intellect 
than  all  the  other  savages.  The  Hurons  are  liberal; 
they  show  delicacy  in  their  conversation,  and  they  speak 
with  precision.  The  others  try  to  imitate  them.  They 
are  insinuating,  and  are  seldom  cheated  by  any  person 
whatsoever  in  any  of  their  undertakings.  The  Outa- 
oiiaks,  who  are  their  neighbors,  have  imitated  their  cus- 
toms and  their  rules  of  conduct;  these  people  were  at 
first  very  rude,  but  by  intercourse  with  the  Hurons  they 
have  become  much  more  intelligent.  They  have  imitated 
the  valor  of  the  latter,  and  have  made  themselves  feared 
by  all  the  tribes  who  are  their  enemies,  and  looked  up  to 
by  those  who  are  their  allies. 

Michilimakinak,  according  to  the  old  men,  is  the 
place  where  Michapous  sojourned  longest.  There  is  a 
mountain  on  the  shore  of  the  lake  which  has  the  shape 
of  a  hare;  they  believe  that  this  was  the  place  of  his 
abode,  and  they  call  this  mountain  Michapous.198  It  is 

198  Manabozho,  Messou,  Michabo  are  among  the  synonyms  of  Nanabozho, 
"the  demiurge  of  the  cosmologic  traditions  of  the  Algonquian  tribes."  He  is 
"apparently  the  impersonation  of  life,  the  active  quickening  power  of  life  — of 
life  manifested  and  embodied  in  the  myriad  forms  of  sentient  and  physical 
nature.  He  is  therefore  reputed  to  possess  not  only  the  power  to  live,  but  also 
the  correlative  power  of  renewing  his  own  life  and  of  quickening  and  there- 


284  LA  POTHERIE 


there,  as  they  say,  that  he  showed  men  how  to  make 
fishing-nets,  and  where  he  placed  the  most  fish.  There 
is  an  island,  two  leagues  from  the  shore,  which  is  very 

fore  creating  life  in  others.  He  impersonates  life  in  an  unlimited  series  of 
diverse  personalities  which  represent  various  phases  and  conditions  of  life,  and 
the  histories  of  the  life  and  acts  of  these  separate  individualities  form  an  entire 
circle  of  traditions  and  myths  which,  when  compared  one  with  another,  are 
sometimes  apparently  contradictory  and  incongruous,  relating,  as  these  stories 
do,  to  the  unrelated  objects  and  subjects  in  nature.  The  conception  named 
Nanabozho  exercises  the  diverse  functions  of  many  persons,  and  he  likewise 
suffers  their  pains  and  needs.  He  is  this  life  struggling  with  the  many  forms 
of  want,  misfortune,  and  death  that  come  to  the  bodies  and  beings  of  nature." 
The  true  character  of  this  concept  has  been  misconceived.  Comparison  is  made 
between  the  Chippewa  Nanabozho  and  the  Iroquois  Te'horon'hiawa'k'hon, 
showing  that  they  are  nearly  identical.  "In  Potawatomi  and  cognate  tra- 
dition Nanabozho  is  the  eldest  of  male  quadruplets,  the  beloved  Chipiapoos 
being  the  second,  Wabosso  the  third,  and  Chakekenapok  the  fourth.  They  were 
begotten  by  a  great  primal  being,  who  had  come  to  earth,  and  were  born  of  a 
reputed  daughter  of  the  children  of  men.  Nanabozho  was  the  professed  and 
active  friend  of  the  human  race.  The  mild  and  gentle  but  unfortunate  Chipi- 
apoos became  the  warder  of  the  dead,  the  ruler  of  the  country  of  the  manes, 
after  this  transformation.  Wabosso  ('Maker  of  White'),  seeing  the  sunlight, 
went  to  the  Northland,  where,  assuming  the  form  of  a  white  hare,  he  is  re- 
garded as  possessing  most  potent  manito  or  orenda.  [Under  art.  "Orenda,"  this 
term  is  defined  as  "th  Iroquois  name  of  the  active  force,  principle,  or  magic 
power  which  was  a  turned  by  the  inchoate  reasoning  of  primitive  man  to  be 
inherent  in  every  body  and  being  of  nature  and  in  every  personified  attribute, 
property,  or  activity,  belonging  to  each  of  these  and  conceived  to  be  the  active 
cause  or  force,  or  dynamic  energy,  involved  in  every  operation  or  phenomenon 
of  nature,  in  any  manner  affecting  or  controlling  the  welfare  of  man.  This 
hypothetic  principle  was  conceived  to  be  immaterial,  occult,  impersonal,  mys- 
terious in  mode  of  action,  limited  in  function  and  efficiency,  and  not  at  all 
omnipotent,  local  and  not  omnipresent,  and  ever  embodied  or  immanent  in  some 
object,  although  it  was  believed  that  it  could  be  transferred,  attracted,  acquired, 
increased,  suppressed,  or  enthralled  by  the  orenda  of  occult  ritualistic  formulas 
endowed  with  more  potency.  .  .  So  to  obtain  his  needs  man  must  gain  the 
goodwill  of  each  one  of  a  thousand  controlling  minds  by  prayer,  sacrifice,  some 
acceptable  offering,  or  propitiatory'  act,  in  order  to  influence  the  exercise  in 
his  behalf  of  the  orenda  or  magic  power  which  he  believed  was  controlled  by 
the  particular  being  invoked.  .  .  In  the  cosmogonic  legends,  the  sum  of 
the  operations  of  this  hypothetic  magic  power  constitutes  the  story  of  the  phe- 
nomena of  nature  and  the  biography  of  the  gods,  in  all  the  planes  of  human 
culture."  — J.  N.  B.  HEWITT.] 

"Lastly,  Chakekenapok,  named  from  chert,  flint,  or  firestone  (fire?),  was  the 
impersonation  originally  of  winter,  and  in  coming  into  this  world  ruthlessly 
caused  the  death  of  his  mother."  He  is  destroyed  by  his  brother  Nanabozho,  in 
anger  for  the  death  of  their  mother,  and  the  fragments  of  his  body  become 


lofty;  they  say  that  he  left  there  some  spirits,  whom  they 
call  Imakinagos.  As  the  inhabitants  of  this  island  are 
large  and  strong,  this  island  has  taken  its  name  from 
those  spirits;  and  it  is  called  Michilimakinak,  as  who 
should  say  Micha-Imakinak-ior  in  the  Outaoiiak  lan- 
guage micha  means  "great,"  "stout,"  and  "much."  This 
place  is  a  strait,  which  separates  Lake  Huron  from 
Mecheygan,  otherwise  "Lake  of  the  Illinois."  The  cur- 
rents which  come  and  go  in  this  strait  form  a  flow  and 
ebb,  which  is  not  regular,  however.  These  currents 
flow  so  rapidly  that  when  the  wind  blows  all  the  nets 
which  are  stretched  [in  the  stream]  are  torn  out  or  de- 
stroyed; and  in  high  wrinds  ice-floes  have  been  seen  to 
move  against  the  currents,  as  swiftly  as  if  they  had  been 
swept  along  by  a  torrent. 

When  the  savages  of  those  regions  make  a  feast  of 
fish,  they  invoke  those  spirits,  who  they  say  live  under 
this  island -thanking  them  for  their  liberality,  and  en- 
treating them  to  take  care  always  of  their  families;  and 
asking  them  to  keep  their  nets  from  harm  and  to  pre- 
serve their  canoes  from  surging  waves.  Those  who  are 
present  at  this  feast  utter,  all  together,  [a  long  drawn] 

huge  rocks,  and  masses  of  flint  or  chert.  "Before  the  Indians  knew  the  art  of 
fire-making  Nanabozho  taught  them  the  art  of  making  hatchets,  lances,  and 
arrowpoints."  He  dwelt  with  Chipiapoos  in  a  land  distant  from  that  of  men, 
and  both  were  beneficent  and  powerful  divinities.  Through  jealousy  the  evil 
manitos  of  the  air,  earth,  and  waters  plotted  to  destroy  the  brothers,  and  suc- 
ceeded in  drowning  Chipiapoos  in  one  of  the  great  lakes.  Great  was  the 
wrath  of  Nanabozho,  which  was  finally  pacified  by  some  of  the  good  manitos, 
who  initiated  him  into  the  mysteries  of  the  grand  medicine.  Afterward  the 
manitos  brought  back  the  lost  Chipiapoos,  but  he  was  required  to  go  to  rule  the 
country  of  the  departed  spirits;  and  Nanabozho  again  descended  upon  earth, 
and  initiated  all  his  human  family  into  the  medicine  mysteries.  He  created 
animals  for  the  food  and  raiment  of  men,  and  useful  plants  to  cure  sickness; 
and  destroyed  many  ferocious  monsters  that  would  have  endangered  human  life. 
Then  he  went  to  dwell  on  an  ice-island  in  the  far  north,  and  placed  at  the 
four  points  of  the  compass  beneficent  beings  who  provide  for  man  the  light, 
heat,  rain,  and  snow  that  are  needed  for  his  welfare." -J.  N.  B.  HEWITT,  in 
Handbook  Amer.  Indians,  art.  "Nanabozho." 


288  LA  POTHERIE  [Vol. 

Ho!  which  is  a  giving  of  thanks ;  they  are  very  exact  in 
offering  this  prayer.  Our  Frenchmen  have  made  so 
much  sport  of  this  custom  that  they  do  not  venture  to 
practice  it  openly  in  the  presence  of  our  people;  but  it 
is  always  noticed  that  they  mutter  something  between 
their  teeth  which  resembles  the  prayer  that  they  offer  to 
these  spirits  of  the  island. 

From  this  strait,  which  is  five  leagues  long,  one  goes 
to  the  Lake  of  the  Islinois,  known  under  the  name  of 
Mecheygan,  which  is  the  route  by  which  one  reaches 
the  Islinois,  who  are  in  possession  of  the  most  beautiful 
regions  that  can  be  seen  [anywhere].  This  lake  is  one 
hundred  and  eighty  leagues  long  by  thirty  wide.  Its 
shores  are  sandy;  usually  that  on  the  north  side  is  fol- 
lowed to  reach  the  Bay  of  Puans. 

This  bay  takes  its  name  from  the  Ouenibegons,199  [a 

i»9  A  variant  of  Ouinipigou,  the  Algonkin  name  of  a  tribe  now  known  as 
Winnebago.  Le  Jeune  explains  the  meaning  of  this  name  and  of  the  French 
translation' of  it,  Nation  des  Puans  (Jesuit  Relations,  vol.  xviii,  231):  "Some 
of  the  French  call  them  the  'Nation  of  Stinkards'  (Puans},  because  the  Algon- 
quin word  ouinipeg  signifies  'bad-smelling  water,'  and  they  apply  this  name  to 
the  water  of  the  salt  sea  —  so  that  these  people  are  called  Ouinipigou  because 
they  come  from  the  shores  of  a  sea  about  which  we  have  no  knowledge;  and 
hence  they  ought  to  be  called  not  the  'Nation  of  Stinkards,'  but  'Nation  of  the 
Sea.'"  The  Winnebago  are  of  Siouan  stock  (see  note  195),  their  Siouan  name 
being  Ho-tcan'-ga-ra,  sometimes  written  Ochungra  or  Otchagra;  in  the  west- 
ward prehistoric  migration  of  that  people  this  branch  separated  from  the  rest, 
on  the  east  side  of  the  Mississippi,  and  moved  northward  into  Wisconsin, 
where  they  finally  settled  about  Lake  Winnebago.  Cyrus  Thomas  says  (Hand- 
book Amer.  Indians,  612):  "Traditional  and  linguistic  evidence  proves  that 
the  Iowa  sprang  from  the  Winnebago  stem,  which  appears  to  have  been  the 
mother  stock  of  some  other  of  the  southwestern  Siouan  tribes."  The  Winne- 
bago were  apparently  located  in  Wisconsin  before  the  coming  of  the  Chippewa 
and  other  Algonquian  tribes  thither,  and  for  many  years  were  on  hostile  terms 
with  the  latter.  During  the  Fox  wars  they  were  for  a  considerable  time  allies 
of  the  Sauk  and  Foxes,  but  later  were  won  over  to  the  French  side.  A  hundred 
of  their  warriors  went,  under  Langlade's  command,  to  fight  against  the  British 
(1755-1759)  ;  but  in  the  Revolutionary  War  they  aided  the  British  against  the 
Americans  (also  in  the  War  of  1812-1815),  and  received  presents  from  them 
as  late  as  1820.  Many  of  them  were  followers  of  Tecumseh  and  the  Prophet, 
and  their  warriors  fought  at  Tippecanoe.  After  peace  was  restored,  dissensions 


one]  SAVAGE  ALLIES  OF  NEW  FRANCE  289 

word]  which  means  Puans  [i.e.,  "stinkards"].  This 
name  is  explained  less  disagreeably  in  the  language  of 
the  savages,  for  they  call  it  the  "salt-water  bay"  rather 
than  the  "bay  of  stinkards"  -  although  among  them 
those  terms  mean  almost  the  same  thing.  They  also  give 
the  same  name  to  the  sea,  a  fact  which  has  occasioned 

arose  between  the  Wisconsin  tribes  over  lands  claimed  by  them;  but  by  the 
treaty  of  Little  Lake  Butte  des  Morts,  August  n,  1827,  the  Winnebago,  Me- 
nominee,  and  the  immigrant  tribes  from  New  York  ceded  their  lands  in  the 
Fox  River  valley,  and  the  Winnebago  those  in  the  lead  region,  to  the  United 
States.  On  Nov.  i,  1837,  a  treaty  was  concluded  at  Washington  with  the 
Winnebago  by  which  they  ceded  all  their  lands  east  of  the  Mississippi  and 
agreed  to  move  upon  a  tract  of  land  in  northeastern  Iowa;  but  the  tribe  refused 
to  confirm  this  agreement,  saying  that  their  envoys  had  no  right  to  make  it. 
Part  of  the  tribe  were  forcibly  removed  thither  in  1840,  and  later  were  again 
removed  to  southern  Minnesota.  After  the  "Sioux  massacre"  (1862)  they 
were  again  removed,  simply  to  pacify  the  frightened  white  inhabitants  of 
Minnesota,  this  time  to  South  Dakota,  near  Pierre.  But  they  did  not  like  this 
place,  and  many  of  them  gradually  made  their  way  to  the  Omaha  reservation 
in  northeastern  Nebraska;  there  lands  were  granted  them,  or  purchased  from  the 
Omaha,  and  they  have  since  remained  there,  cultivating  their  lands  and  dis- 
playing much  thrift  and  industry.  Meanwhile  many  of  the  tribe  (more  than 
1,000)  had  remained  in  Wisconsin,  and  in  1873  the  government  attempted  to 
remove  these  people  to  Nebraska.  Several  hundred  of  them  were  sent  thither, 
against  their  will ;  the  removal  was  even  more  cruel  than  previous  ones,  many 
dying  on  the  way  or  after  reaching  their  destination.  Many  others  made  their 
way  back  to  Wisconsin,  and  joined  their  tribesmen  who  were  still  there.  Since 
then,  they  have  been  left  undisturbed,  and  annual  payments  have  been  made 
to  them  by  the  government;  and  homesteads  have  been  provided  for  them, 
chiefly  in  Jackson,  Adams,  Marathon,  and  Shawano  Counties  (in  Central  Wis- 
consin). They  live  mainly  by  picking  berries,  fishing,  and  hunting,  and  culti- 
vate their  lands  to  a  limited  extent.  In  1887  the  number  of  Winnebago  enrolled 
in  Wisconsin  was  about  1,500;  in  1907  they  numbered  1,180,  and  there  were 
2,613  m  Nebraska.  Much  of  the  information  in  this  note  is  obtained  from  the 
interesting  and  carefully  prepared  account  given  by  Publius  V.  Lawson,  "The 
Winnebago  Tribe,"  in  the  Wisconsin  Archeologist,  July,  1907.  Therein  he 
presents  also  a  series  of  "outline  sketches  of  the  chiefs"  of  the  tribe,  gathered 
from  the  Wis.  Hist.  Colls,  and  other  authorities;  also  portraits  of  several,  illus- 
trations of  Winnebago  implements,  etc.,  and  a  map  showing  location  of  their 
villages. 

See  also  the  account  of  this  tribe  in  Handbook  of  Amer.  Indians,  by  J.  O. 
Dorsey  and  Paul  Radin;  it  describes  especially  their  social  organization  and 
religious  ceremonies.  Their  population  is  given  therein  as  1,063  in  Nebraska 
and  1,270  in  Wisconsin  (in  1910).  Dr.  Radin  is  engaged  in  a  careful  and 
detailed  study  of  this  tribe  for  the  Bureau  of  American  Ethnology.  —  ED. 


290  LA  POTHERIE  [Vol. 

very  careful  search  to  be  made  in  order  to  ascertain  if 
there  are  not  in  those  quarters  some  salt-water  springs, 
such  as  there  are  among  the  Iroquois ;  but  thus  far  noth- 
ing of  this  sort  has  been  found.  It  is  believed  that  this 
name  was  given  to  the  bay  on  account  of  the  quantities 
of  mud  and  mire  which  are  encountered  there  [along 
its  shores?],  from  which  continually  arise  unwholesome 
vapors,  which  cause  the  most  terrible  and  frequent 
thunders  that  can  be  heard  [anywhere].  In  this  bay  is 
observed  a  regular  rise  and  fall  of  the  waters,  almost 
like  that  of  the  sea.  I  will  gladly  leave  to  the  philo- 
sophers the  inquiry  whether  these  tides  are  occasioned 
by  the  winds,  or  by  some  other  cause ;  and  whether  there 
are  winds  which  are  precursors  of  the  moon,  and  at- 
tached to  its  retinue,  which  consequently  agitate  this 
lake  and  produce  its  flow  and  ebb  whenever  the  moon 
rises  above  the  horizon.  What  we  can  say  with  cer- 
tainty is,  that  when  the  water  is  very  calm,  it  is  easily 
seen  to  rise  and  fall  according  to  the  course  of  the 
moon -although  it  is  not  denied  that  these  movements 
might  be  caused  by  winds  that  are  far  away,  and  which, 
by  pressure  on  the  middle  of  the  lake,  cause  the  waters 
along  its  shores  to  rise  and  fall  in  the  manner  which  is 
visible.200 

This  bay  is  forty  leagues  in  depth;  its  width  at  the 
entrance  is  eight  or  ten  leagues,  gradually  diminishing 

200  The  apparent  tides  in  Lake  Michigan  and  Green  Bay  were  often  noticed 
by  early,  explorers  and  writers,  especially  by  the  Jesuit  missionaries  (after 
1670).  They  were  chiefly  mentioned  by  Louis  Andre,  who  observed  them  at 
Mackinac,  "so  regular,  and  again  so  irregular"  (Jesuit  Relations,  Iv,  163-165)  ; 
in  Green  Bay,  where  he  was  convinced  that  they  were  caused  by  the  moon 
(id.,  Ivi,  137-139)  ;  and  in  Fox  River  (id.,  Ivii,  301-305).  Marquette  also  men- 
tions them,  in  1673  and  1675  (id.,  lix,  99,  179).  These  observers,  and  some 
in  the  nineteenth  century,  thought  that  these  apparent  tides  were  more  or  less 
affected  and  perhaps  caused  by  the  currents  or  the  varying  depth  of  the  waters, 
the  configuration  of  the  shores,  the  direction  and  force  of  winds,  etc.  For 
more  recent  explanation,  see  page  150,  footnote.  — ED. 


one]  SAVAGE  ALLIES  OF  NEW  FRANCE  291 

until  at  the  farthest  end  it  is  but  two  leagues  wide.  The 
mouth  is  closed  by  seven  islands,  which  must  be  doubled 
in  voyaging  to  the  Islinois.  The  bay  is  on  the  north- 
western side  of  the  lake,  and  extends  toward  the  south- 
west; at  the  entrance  is  a  small  village,  composed  of 
people  gathered  from  various  nations -who,  wishing  to 
commend  themselves  to  their  neighbors,  have  cleared 
some  lands  there,  and  affect  to  entertain  all  who  pass 
that  way.  Liberality  is  a  characteristic  greatly  admired 
among  the  savages;  and  it  is  the  proper  thing  for  the 
chiefs  to  lavish  all  their  possessions,  if  they  desire  to  be 
esteemed.  Accordingly,  they  have  exerted  themselves 
to  receive  strangers  hospitably,  who  find  among  them 
whatever  provisions  are  in  season;  and  they  like  nothing 
better  than  to  hear  that  others  are  praising  their  generos- 
ity. 

The  Pouteouatemis,  Sakis,  and  Malhominis201  dwell 

201  One  of  the  variants  of  the  name  now  given  to  this  tribe,  Menominee 
(meaning  the  "Wild-rice  People"  — see  note  71).  When  first  known  to  the 
whites  these  Indians  were  living  on  the  Menominee  River  and  Bay  de  Noque, 
on  the  southern  side  of  the  upper  Michigan  peninsula ;  and  it  was  in  the  former 
locality  that  Nicolet  visited  them  (about  1634),  and  where  they  remained  until 
the  middle  of  the  nineteenth  century.  They  have  generally  been  a  peaceful 
tribe,  save  that  in  earlier  days  they  were  often  on  hostile  terms  with  their  Al- 
gonquian  neighbors.  Although  rather  indolent,  they  are  generally  honest,  and 
not  so  given  to  intemperance  as  the  Indians  of  many  other  tribes.  At  various 
times  from  1831  to  1856,  the  Menominee  ceded  lands  occupied  by  them  to  the 
United  States;  and  in  exchange  for  these  they  received  (May  12,  1854)  a 
reservation  on  the  Wolf  River,  in  Shawano  County,  Wis.  Their  present  popu- 
lation is  about  1,600.- JAMES  MOONEY  and  CYRUS  THOMAS,  in  Handbook  Amer. 
Indians. 

Sauk  (Sakis),  a  name  derived  from  Osawkiwag,  "people  of  the  yellow 
earth"  (Hewitt)  ;  they  belong  to  the  Central  group  of  the  Algonquian  family. 
"There  is  no  satisfactory  reference  to  them  till  they  are  spoken  of  as  dwelling 
south  of  the  Straits  of  Mackinaw."  Their  claim,  confirmed  by  other  tribes 
(the  Potawatomi,  Ottawa,  and  Chippewa),  is  that  their  home  was  once 
about  Saginaw  Bay,  from  which  they  were  driven  by  those  tribes.  "In  the 
early  part  of  the  i8th  century  they  were  found  by  the  French  west  of  Lake 
Michigan,  dwelling  south  of  the  Foxes,  who  were  then  about  Green  Bay.  .  . 
It  is  more  probable  that  they  came  rAind  Lake  Michigan  by  way  of  the  south. 
From  earliest  accounts  it  seems  that  the  Sauk  and  Foxes  were  on  very  intimate 


292  LA  POTHERIE  [Vol. 

there;  and  there  are  four  cabins,  the  remains  of  the 
Nadouaichs,  a  tribe  which  has  been  entirely  destroyed 

terms  with  each  other.  They  were  probably  but  two  divisions  of  the  same 
people  who  had  been  separated  by  some  cause,  probably  by  defeat  at  the  hands 
of  their  enemies."  They  seem  to  have  been  greatly  disliked  by  their  savage 
neighbors,  and  later  by  the  French.  They  were  almost  always  at  war  with 
the  adjoining  tribes,  most  of  whom  were  friendly  to  the  French ;  and  they  refused 
to  join  the  military  operations  of  the  latter;  "there  is  no  doubt  that  these  early 
For  wars  had  a  good  deal  to  do  with  weakening  the  cause  of  the  French  in 
the  struggle  with  the  English  to  gain  control  of  the  continent."  In  the  latter 
part  of  the  eighteenth  century  the  Sauk  and  Foxes  were  "living  together  practi- 
cally as  one  people,  and  occupying  an  extensive  territory  in  what  is  now 
southern  Wisconsin,  northwestern  Illinois,  and  northeastern  Missouri." 

A  Sauk  band  wintering  near  St.  Louis  made  an  agreement  (about  1804.) 
"by  which  the  Sauk  and  Foxes  were  to  relinquish  all  claim  to  their  territory 
in  Wisconsin,  Illinois,  and  Missouri ;"  but  those  tribes  were  only  angered  by 
this  transaction,  and  the  Foxes  were  so  incensed  at  the  Sauk  that  they  gradually 
withdrew  from  them  and  moved  over  the  Mississippi  into  their  hunting  grounds 
in  Iowa.  "Other  agreements  were  entered  into  with  the  three  divisions  of 
these  people  before  the  treaty  of  1804  was  finally  carried  out  Out  of  all  this, 
in  connection  with  the  general  unrest  of  the  tribes  of  this  region,  rose  the  so- 
called  Black  Hawk  War.  It  is  customary  to  lay  the  cause  of  this  conflict 
to  the  refusal  of  the  Sauk  to  comply  with  the  terms  of  agreement  they  had 
entered  into  with  the  government  with  reference  particularly  to  the  lands  on 
Rock  River  in  Illinois."  Their  hostilities  with  the  whites  were  short  and 
unequal;  they  were  defeated,  and  sought  refuge  among  the  Foxes  in  Iowa. 
This  result  was  partly  due  to  tribal  jealousies;  the  Winnebago  delivered  up 
Black  Hawk  to  the  government  authorities  and  the  Potawatomi  deserted  to  the 
side  of  the  whites.  "This  conflict  practically  broke  the  power  of  the  Sauk  and 
Foxes.  They  united  again  in  Iowa,  this  time  to  avenge  themselves  against  the 
Sioux,  Omaha,  and  Menominee,  whom  they  chastised  in  lively  fashion,  but  not 
enough  to  satisfy  their  desires.  So  constantly  harassed  were  the  Sioux  that 
they  finally  left  Iowa  altogether,  and  the  Menominee  withdrew  northward  where 
they  continued  to  remain.  In  1837  the  Sauk  and  Foxes  made  the  last  of  their 
various  cessions  of  Iowa  lands,  and  were  given  in  exchange  a  tract  across 
the  Missouri  in  Kansas.  Here  they  remained  practically  as  one  people  for 
about  twenty  years."  But  they  were  separated  by  internal  dissensions,  due 
largely  to  the  Sauk  leader  Keokuk,  and  lived  in  separate  villages.  About 
1858  most  of  the  Foxes  removed  to  Iowa;  they  finally  found  a  place  on  Iowa 
River,  near  Tama  City,  where  they  bought  a  small  tract  of  land,  to  which 
additions  have  been  made  at  various  times,  until  now  they  hold  over  3,000  acres 
in  common.  "They  have  nothing  more  to  do  with  the  Sauk  politically.  In 
1867  the  Sauk  ceded  their  lands  in  Kansas  and  were  given  lands  in  exchange 
in  Indian  Territory.  In  1889  they  took  up  lands  in  severally  and  sold  the 
remainder  to  the  government  The  total  number  of  the  Sauk  is  fewer  than 
600,  of  whom  about  100  are  in  Kansas  and  Nebraska,  and  about  500  in  Okla- 
homa. The  Foxes  in  Iowa  number  about  350."  — WILLIAM  JONES,  in  Handbook 
Amer.  Indians. 


one]  SAVAGE  ALLIES  OF  NEW  FRANCE  293 

by  the  Iroquois.  In  former  times,  the  Puans  were  the 
masters  of  this  bay,  and  of  a  great  extent  of  adjoining 
country.  This  nation  was  a  populous  one,  very  re- 
doubtable, and  spared  no  one;  they  violated  all  the  laws 
of  nature;  they  were  sodomites,  and  even  had  inter- 
course with  beasts.  If  any  stranger  came  among  them, 
he  was  cooked  in  their  kettles.  The  Malhominis  were 
the  only  tribe  who  maintained  relations  with  them, 
[and]  they  did  not  dare  even  to  complain  of  their 
tyranny.  Those  tribes  believed  themselves  the  most 
powerful  in  the  universe;  they  declared  war  on  all  na- 
tions whom  they  could  discover,  although  they  had  only 
stone  knives  and  hatchets.  They  did  not  desire  to  have 
commerce  with  the  French.  The  Outaouaks,  notwith- 
standing, sent  to  them  envoys,  whom  they  had  the 
cruelty  to  eat.  This  crime  incensed  all  the  nations,  who 
formed  a  union  with  the  Outaouaks,  on  account  of  the 
protection  accorded  to  them  by  the  latter  under  the 
auspices  of  the  French,  from  whom  they  received 
weapons  and  all  sorts  of  merchandise.  They  made  fre- 
quent expeditions  against  the  Puans,  who  were  giving 
them  much  trouble;  and  then  followed  civil  wars  among 
the  Puans -who  reproached  one  another  for  their  ill- 
fortune,  brought  upon  them  by  the  perfidy  of  those  who 
had  slain  the  envoys,  since  the  latter  h*d  brought  them 
knives,  bodkins,  and  many  other  useful  articles,  of  which 
they  had  had  no  previous  knowledge.  When  they  found 
that  they  were  being  vigorously  attacked,  they  were  com- 
pelled to  unite  all  their  forces  in  one  village,  where  they 
numbered  four  or  five  thousand  men;  but  maladies 
wrought  among  them  more  devastation  than  even  the 
war  did,  and  the  exhalations  from  the  rotting  corpses 
caused  great  mortality.  They  could  not  bury  the  dead, 
and  were  soon  reduced  to  fifteen  hundred  men.  De- 
spite all  these  misfortunes,  they  sent  a  party  of  five 


294  LA  POTHERIE  [Vol. 

hundred  warriors  against  the  Outagamis,  who  dwelt  on 
the  other  shore  of  the  lake ; 202  but  all  those  men  perished, 

202  This  is  one  of  various  appellations  of  the  tribe  now  known  as  Foxes 
(a  name  which,  as  often  happened,  was  erroneously  transferred  from  a  clan 
to  the  tribe).  Their  own  name  for  themselves  is  Mesh-kwa  'kihug1,  meaning 
(like  the  Hebrew  name  Adam)  "red  earth,"  referring  to  their  legend  of 
creation.  They  are  mentioned  by  various  writers  as  Musquakies,  Outagamis, 
and  Renards  (the  French  appellation),  each  name  having  many  variant  or 
corrupted  forms.  They  were  known  to  the  Chippewa  and  other  Algonquian 
tribes  as  Utugamig,  "people  of  the  other  shore."  When  first  known  to  the 
whites  the  Foxes  lived  about  Lake  Winnebago,  or  along  the  Fox  and  Wolf 
Rivers.  They  were  closely  related  to  the  Sauk  (see  preceding  note),  and  prob- 
ably both  were  only  branches  from  one  original  stem;  so  it  is  probable  that 
their  early  migrations  were  closely  correspondent.  They  were  a  restless,  fierce 
tribe,  and  were  almost  always  at  war  with  some  of  their  Algonquian  neighbors, 
or  with  the  French;  they  carried  on  war  frequently  with  the  Illinois  tribes, 
and  finally  (aided  by  the  Sauk)  drove  them  from  their  own  country,  and  took 
possession  of  it.  In  1746  the  Foxes  were  living  at  the  Little  Lake  Butte  des 
Morts,  just  below  the  present  Neenah  and  Menasha,  Wis. ;  and  they  exacted 
tribute  from  every  trader  who  passed  them,  plundering  every  one  who  refused 
to  pay.  Incensed  at  this  treatment,  the  French,  aided  by  the  Chippewa,  Pota- 
watomi,  and  Menominee,  attacked  the  Foxes,  and  after  two  sharp  battles  drove 
them  down  the  Wisconsin  River,  where  they  settled,  about  twenty  miles  above 
Prairie  du  Chien.  About  1780  the  Foxes  and  the  Sioux  attacked  the  Chippewa 
at  St.  Croix  Falls,  where  the  Foxes  were  almost  annihilated.  The  remnant  of 
them  united  with  the  Sauk,  and  they  practically  make  one  tribe,  although  each 
retains  its  identity.  Their  mode  of  life,  customs,  etc.,  are  those  of  the  tribes 
of  the  eastern  woodlands,  somewhat  modified  by  those  of  the  plains.  "There 
is  probably  no  other  Algonquian  community  within  the  limits  of  the  United 
States,  unless  it  be  that  of  the  Mexican  band  of  Kickapoo  in  Oklahoma,  where 
a  more  primitive  state  of  society  exists."  Most  of  the  estimates  before  1850 
make  their  numbers  1,500  to  2,000  souls;  since  that  time  they  have  been  enu- 
merated together  with  the  Sauk.  "The  345  'Sauk  and  Fox  of  Mississippi'  still 
(1905)  in  Iowa  are  said  to  be  all  Foxes."  There  are  also  82  Sauk  and  Foxes 
among  the  Kickapoos  of  Kansas.  —  JAMES  MOONEY  and  CYRUS  THOMAS,  in 
Handbook  Amer.  Indians. 

The  Sauk  and  Foxes  were  concerned  in  the  so-called  "Black  Hawk  War"  of 
1832,  occasioned  by  what  they  considered  a  fraudulent  treaty  and  cession  of 
their  lands  and  villages  in  Iowa  to  white  men ;  they  were  defeated,  and  trans- 
ported to  Kansas.  Driven  by  homesickness,  the  Foxes  made  their  way  back  to 
Iowa,  and  settled  on  the  banks  of  the  Iowa,  near  the  present  Tama  City; 
and  gradually  they  have  acquired  there  some  3,000  acres  of  land,  on  which 
they  live  in  considerable  comfort  and  prosperity.  For  a  minute  and  admirable 
study  of  this  people,  their  mode  of  life,  their  customs  and  beliefs,  see  the  val- 
uable monograph  written  by  Miss  Mary  Alicia  Owen  (who  for  many  years 
has  been  personally  and  intimately  acquainted  with  this  tribe),  "The  Folk-Lore 
of  the  Musquakie  Indians"  (London,  1904),  which  forms  vol.  li  of  the  publi- 


one]  SAVAGE  ALLIES  OF  NEW  FRANCE  295 

while  making  that  journey,  by  a  tempest  which  arose. 
Their  enemies  were  moved  by  this  disaster,  and  said  that 
the  gods  ought  to  be  satisfied  with  so  many  punish- 
ments; so  they  ceased  making  war  on  those  who  re- 
mained. All  these  scourges,  which  ought  to  have  gone 
home  to  their  consciences,  seemed  only  to  increase  their 
iniquities.  All  savages  who  have  not  yet  embraced  the 
Christian  faith  have  the  notion  that  the  souls  of  the  de- 
parted, especially  of  those  who  have  been  slain,  can  not 
rest  in  peace  unless  their  relatives  avenge  their  death; 
it  is  necessary,  therefore,  to  sacrifice  victims  to  their 
shades,  if  their  friends  wish  to  solace  them.  This  be- 
lief, which  animated  those  barbarians,  inspired  in  them 
an  ardent  desire  to  satisfy  the  manes  of  their  ancestors, 
or  to  perish  utterly;  but,  seeing  that  this  was  impossible 
for  them,  they  were  obliged  to  check  their  resentment - 
they  felt  too  humiliated  in  the  sight  of  all  the  nations 
to  dare  undertake  any  such  enterprise.  The  despair, 
the  cruel  memory  of  their  losses,  and  the  destitution  to 
which  they  were  reduced,  made  it  still  more  difficult 
for  them  to  find  favorable  opportunities  for  providing 
their  subsistence ;  the  frequent  raids  of  their  enemies  had 
even  dispersed  the  game;  and  famine  was  the  last 
scourge  that  attacked  them. 

Then  the  Islinois,203  touched  with  compassion  for 

cations  of  the  British  Folk-lore  Society.  To  that  society  Miss  Owen  presented 
a  large  and  valuable  collection  made  by  her,  of  beadwork  and  ceremonial 
implements  obtained  from  the  Foxes;  the  book  is  illustrated  with  plates  (some 
being  colored  facsimiles)  showing  the  designs  in  their  beadwork.  —  ED. 

203  Illinois  (the  French  form  of  their  own  appellation,  Iliniwek,  meaning 
"people  who  are  men")  was  the  name  of  a  "confederacy  of  Algonquian  tribes, 
formerly  occupying  southern  Wisconsin,  northern  Illinois,  and  sections  of  Iowa 
and  Missouri,  comprising  the  Cahokia,  Kaskaskia,  Michigamea,  Moingwena, 
Peoria,  and  Tamaroa."  From  1660  to  1670,  Jesuit  missionaries  found  some  of 
them  living  at  the  Mascoutin  village  on  the  upper  Fox  River,  and  even 
visiting  the  Indians  at  Lake  Superior  for  purposes  of  trade.  Some  of  their 
villages  were  situated  in  Iowa  on  the  shore  of  the  Mississippi;  but  the  greater 


296  LA  POTHERIE 


these  unfortunates,  sent  five  hundred  men,  among  whom 
were  fifty  of  the  most  prominent  persons  in  their  nation, 
to  carry  them  a  liberal  supply  of  provisions.  Those 
man-eaters  received  them  at  first  with  the  utmost  grati- 
tude ;  but  at  the  same  time  they  meditated  taking  revenge 
for  their  loss  by  the  sacrifice  which  they  meant  to  make 
of  the  Islinois  to  the  shades  of  their  dead.  Accordingly, 
they  erected  a  great  cabin  in  which  to  lodge  these  new 
guests.  As  it  is  a  custom  among  the  savages  to  provide 
dances  and  public  games  on  splendid  occasions,  the 
Puans  made  ready  for  a  dance  expressly  for  their  guests. 
While  the  Islinois  were  engaged  in  dancing,  the  Puans 
cut  their  bow-strings,  and  immediately  flung  themselves 
upon  the  Islinois,  massacred  them,  not  sparing  one  man, 
and  made  a  general  feast  of  their  flesh;  the  enclosure  of 

part  of  the  tribes  belonging  to  the  confederacy  lived  in  northern  Illinois,  chiefly 
on  the  Illinois  River.  In  the  village  of  Kaskaskia  (then  on  the  Illinois  River, 
in  the  present  LaSalle  County),  Marquette  found  (1673)  74  cabins,  all  of  one 
tribe  only;  various  missionaries  who  visited  the  place  between  1680  and  1692 
estimated  the  population  at  from  300  to  400  cabins,  or  6,500  to  9,000  souls,  be- 
longing to  eight  tribes.  "The  Illinois  were  almost  constantly  harassed  by  the 
Sioux,  Foxes,  and  other  northern  tribes;  it  was  probably  on  this  account  that 
they  concentrated,  about  the  time  of  La  Salle's  visit,  on  the  Illinois  River. 
About  the  same  time  the  Iroquois  waged  war  against  them,  which  lasted  several 
years,  and  greatly  reduced  their  numbers,  while  liquor  obtained  from  the 
French  tended  still  further  to  weaken  them.  About  the  year  1750  they  were 
still  estimated  at  from  1,500  to  2,000  souls.  The  murder  of  the  celebrated  chief 
Pontiac  by  a  Kaskaskia  Indian,  about  1769,  provoked  the  vengeance  of  the 
Lake  tribes  on  the  Illinois;  and  a  war  of  extermination  was  begun  which, 
in  a  few  years,  reduced  them  to  a  mere  handful,  who  took  refuge  with  the 
French  settlers  at  Kaskaskia,  while  the  Sauk,  Foxes,  Kickapoo,  and  Potawatomi 
took  possession  of  their  country.  In  1778  the  Kaskaskia  still  numbered  210, 
living  in  a  village  three  miles  north  of  Kaskaskia,  while  the  Peoria  and  Michi- 
gamea  together  numbered  170  on  the  Mississippi,  a  few  miles  farther  up.  Both 
bands  had  become  demoralized  and  generally  worthless  through  the  use  of 
liquor.  In  1800  there  were  only  150  left.  In  1833  the  survivors,  represented 
by  the  Kaskaskia  and  Peoria,  sold  their  lands  in  Illinois  and  removed  west  of 
the  Mississippi,  and  are  now  in  the  northeast  corner  of  Oklahoma,  consolidated 
with  the  Wea  and  Piankashaw."  In  1885  but  149  remained  of  all  these 
tribes,  and  even  these  were  much  mixed  with  white  blood.  In  1905  their 
number  was  195.  So  far  as  can  be  judged  from  the  early  writers,  the  Illinois 
seem  to  have  been  timid,  fickle,  and  treacherous.  —  JAMES  MOONEY  and  CYRUS 
THOMAS,  in  Handbook  Amer.  Indians. 


SAVAGE  ALLIES  OF  NEW  FRANCE  299 

that  cabin,  and  the  melancholy  remains  of  the  victims, 
may  still  be  seen.  The  Puans  rightly  judged  that  all 
the  nations  would  league  themselves  together  to  take 
vengeance  for  the  massacre  of  the  Islinois  and  for  their 
own  cruel  ingratitude  toward  that  people,  and  resolved 
to  abandon  the  place  which  they  were  occupying.  But, 
before  they  took  that  final  step,  each  reproached  him- 
self for  that  crime;  some  dreamed  at  night  that  their 
families  were  being  carried  away,  and  others  thought 
that  they  saw  on  every  side  frightful  spectres,  who 
threatened  them.  They  took  refuge  in  an  island,  which 
has  since  been  swept  away  by  the  ice-floes. 

The  Islinois,  finding  that  their  people  did  not  return, 
sent  out  some  men  to  bring  news  of  them.  They  arrived 
at  the  Puan  village,  which  they  found  abandoned;  but 
from  it  they  descried  the  smoke  from  the  one  which  had 
just  been  established  in  that  island.  The  Islinois  saw 
only  the  ruins  of  the  cabins,  and  the  bones  of  many 
human  beings  which,  they  concluded,  were  those  of 
their  own  people.  When  they  carried  back  to  their 
country  this  sad  news,  only  weeping  and  lamentation 
were  heard;  they  sent  word  of  their  loss  to  their  allies, 
who  offered  to  assist  them.  The  Puans,  who  knew  that 
the  Islinois  did  not  use  canoes,  were  sure  that  in  that 
island  they  were  safe  from  all  affronts.  The  Islinois 
were  every  day  consoled  by  those  who  had  learned  of 
their  disaster;  and  from  every  side  they  received  pres- 
ents which  wiped  away  their  tears.  They  consulted 
together  whether  they  should  immediately  attempt  hos- 
tilities against  their  enemies.  Their  wisest  men  said  that 
they  ought,  in  accordance  with  the  custom  of  their  an- 
cestors, to  spend  one  year,  or  even  more,  in  mourning,  to 
move  the  Great  Spirit;  that  he  had  chastised  them  be- 
cause they  had  not  offered  enough  sacrifices  to  him;  that 


300  LA  POTHERIE  [Vol. 

he  would,  notwithstanding,  have  pity  on  them  if  they 
were  not  impatient;  and  that  he  would  chastise  the 
Puans  for  so  black  a  deed.  They  deferred  hostilities 
until  the  second  year,  when  they  assembled  a  large  body 
of  men  from  all  the  nations  who  were  interested  in  the 
undertaking;  and  they  set  out  in  the  winter  season,  in 
order  not  to  fail  therein.  Having  reached  the  island 
over  the  ice,  they  found  only  the  cabins,  in  which  there 
still  remained  some  fire;  the  Puans  had  gone  to  their 
hunt  on  the  day  before,  and  were  traveling  in  a  body, 
that  they  might  not,  in  any  emergency,  be  surprised  by 
the  Islinois.  The  army  of  the  latter  followed  these 
hunters,  and  on  the  sixth  day  descried  their  village,  to 
which  they  laid  seige.  So  vigorous  was  their  attack  that 
they  killed,  wounded,  or  made  prisoners  all  the  Puans, 
except  a  few  who  escaped,  and  who  reached  the  Mal- 
hominis'  village,  but  severely  wounded  by  arrows. 

The  Islinois  returned  to  their  country,  well  avenged; 
they  had,  however,  the  generosity  to  spare  the  lives  of 
many  women  and  children,  part  of  whom  remained 
among  them,  while  others  had  liberty  to  go  whither 
they  pleased.  A  few  years  ago,  they  [the  Puans]  num- 
bered possibly  one  hundred  and  fifty  warriors.  These 
savages  have  no  mutual  fellow-feeling ;  they  have  caused 
their  own  ruin,  and  have  been  obliged  to  divide  their 
forces.  They  are  naturally  very  impatient  of  control, 
and  very  irascible ;  a  little  matter  excites  them ;  and  they 
are  great  braggarts.  They  are,  however,  well  built,  and 
are  brave  soldiers,  who  do  not  know  what  danger  is; 
and  they  are  subtle  and  crafty  in  war.  Although  they 
are  convinced  that  their  ancestors  drew  upon  themselves 
the  enmity  of  all  the  surrounding  nations,  they  cannot 
be  humble;  on  the  contrary,  they  are  the  first  to  affront" 
those  who  are  with  them.  Their  women  are  extremely 


one]  SAVAGE  ALLIES  OF  NEW  FRANCE  301 

laborious;  they  are  neat  in  their  houses,  but  very  dis- 
gusting about  their  food.  These  people  are  very  fond 
of  the  French,  who  always  protect  them;  without  that 
support,  they  would  have  been  long  ago  utterly  de- 
stroyed, for  none  of  their  neighbors  could  endure  them 
on  account  of  their  behavior  and  their  insupportable 
haughtiness.  Some  years  ago,  the  Outagamis,  Maskou- 
techs,  Kikabous,20*  Sakis,  and  Miamis  were  almost  de- 
feated by  them;  they  have  [now]  become  somewhat 
more  tractable.  Some  of  the  Pouteouatemis,  Sakis, 
and  Outagamis  have  taken  wives  among  them,  and  have 
given  them  their  own  daughters. 

The  Pouteouatemis  are  their  neighbors ;  the  behavior 
of  these  people  is  very  affable  and  cordial,  and  they 
make  great  efforts  to  gain  the  good  opinion  of  persons 

204  The  Kickapoo  are  "a  tribe  of  the  central  Algonquian  group,  forming  a 
division  with  the  Sauk  and  Foxes,  with  whom  they  have  close  ethnic  and 
linguistic  connection.  The  relation  of  this  division  is  rather  with  the  Miami, 
Shawnee,  Menominee,  and  Peoria  than  with  the  Chippewa,  Potawatomi,  and 
Ottawa."  Apparently  Allouez  was  the  first  white  man  to  encounter  them 
(1667-1670)  ;  they  were  then  near  the  Fox-Wisconsin  portage.  At  some  time 
before  1700  they  had  dwelt  on  the  Kickapoo  River  of  Wisconsin.  In  the  early 
part  of  the  eighteenth  century  at  least  part  of  the  tribe  were  living  somewhere 
about  Milwaukee  River.  After  the  destruction  of  the  Illinois  confederacy 
(about  1765),  the  Kickapoo  appropriated  part  of  the  conquered  territory— at 
first  settling  at  Peoria,  111.,  then  gradually  moving  on  to  the  Sangamon  and 
Wabash  Rivers.  In  the  War  of  1812  they  fought  with  Tecumseh  against  the 
Americans,  and  many  followed  Black  Hawk  in  the  contest  of  1832.  In  1809 
and  1819  they  ceded  to  the  United  States  their  lands  in  Illinois  and  Indiana, 
and  afterward  removed  to  Missouri  and  thence  to  Kansas.  A  large  number  of 
the  Kickapoo  went,  in  1852  and  1863,  to  Texas  and  thence  to  Mexico,  which 
caused  them  to  be  known  as  "Mexican  Kickapoo."  "In  1873  a  number  were 
brought  back  and  settled  in  Indian  Territory.  Others  have  come  in  since, 
but  the  remainder,  constituting  at  present  nearly  half  the  tribe,  are  now  settled 
on  a  reservation,  granted  them  by  the  Mexican  government,  in  the  Santa  Rosa 
mountains  of  eastern  Chihuahua."  In  1759  the  population  of  the  Kickapoo  was 
estimated  at  3,000;  since  that  time  they  have  steadily  diminished.  "Those  in  the 
United  States  in  1905  were  officially  reported  at  432,  of  whom  247  were  in 
Oklahoma  and  185  in  Kansas.  There  are  supposed  to  be  about  400  or  more  in 
Mexico.  Within  the  last  two  years  there  has  been  considerable  effort  by 
private  parties  to  procure  the  removal  of  the  Oklahoma  band  also  to  Mexico." 
—  JAMES  MOONEY  and  WILLIAM  JONES,  in  Handbook  Amer.  Indians. 


302  LA  POTHERIE  [Vol. 

who  come  among  them.  They  are  very  intelligent;  they 
have  an  inclination  for  raillery;  their  physical  appear- 
ance is  good ;  and  they  are  great  talkers.  When  they  set 
their  minds  on  anything,  it  is  not  easy  to  turn  them  from 
it.  The  old  men  are  prudent,  sensible,  and  deliberate; 
it  is  seldom  that  they  undertake  any  unseasonable  en- 
terprise. As  they  receive  strangers  very  kindly,  they 
are  delighted  when  reciprocal  attentions  are  paid  to 
them.  They  have  so  good  an  opinion  of  themselves  that 
they  regard  other  nations  as  inferior  to  them.  They 
have  made  themselves  arbiters  for  the  tribes  about  the 
bay,  and  for  all  their  neighbors;  and  they  strive  to  pre- 
serve for  themselves  that  reputation  in  every  direc- 
tion.205 Their  ambition  to  please  everybody  has  of 

205  Potawatomi  (originally  meaning  "people  of  the  place  of  the  fire;"  also 
called  "Fire  Nation"),  an  Algonquian  tribe,  "first  encountered  on  the  islands 
of  Green  Bay,  Wis.,  and  at  its  head.  According  to  the  traditions  of  all  three 
tribes  the  Potawatomi,  Chippewa,  and  Ottawa  were  originally  one  people,  and 
seem  to  have  reached  the  region  about  the  upper  end  of  Lake  Huron  together. 
Here  they  separated,  but  the  three  have  always  formed  a  loose  confederacy,  or 
have  acted  in  concert,  and  in  1846  those  removed  beyond  the  Mississippi, 
asserting  their  former  connection,  asked  to  be  again  united.  Warren  con- 
jectured that  it  had  been  less  than  three  centuries  since  the  Chippewa  became 
disconnected  as  a  distinct  tribe  from  the  Ottawa  and  Potawatomi."  It  is 
apparently  the  Potawatomi  of  whom  Champlain  heard  (in  1616),  named  by  the 
Hurons  Asistagueronons,  and  dwelling  on  the  western  shore  of  Lake  Huron. 
In  the  Jesuit  Relation  for  1640  the  Potawatomi  are  spoken  of  as  living  in  the 
vicinity  of  the  Winnebago,  doubtless  driven  west  by  the  Iroquois;  but  in  the 
following  year  they  were  at  Sault  Ste.  Marie,  having  taken  refuge  with  the 
Saulteurs  (Chippewa)  there  from  the  incursions  of  the  Sioux.  In  1667  many 
of  them  were  at  Chequamegon  Bay;  and  in  1670  they  had  again  resorted  to 
the  islands  in  Green  Bay.  Moving  still  further  southward,  by  1700  they  had 
become  established  on  Milwaukee  River,  at  Chicago,  and  on  St.  Joseph  River; 
and  by  1800  they  "were  in  possession  of  the  country  around  the  head  of  Lake 
Michigan,  from  Milwaukee  River  to  Grand  River  in  Michigan,  extending 
southwest  over  a  large  part  of  northern  Illinois,  east  across  Michigan  to  Lake 
Erie,  and  south  in  Indiana  to  the  Wabash,  and  as  far  down  as  Pine  Creek. 
Within  this  territory  they  had  about  fifty  villages."  Those  who  lived  in 
Illinois  and  Wisconsin  were  known  as  the  Prairie  band,  or  Maskotens  —  which 
appellation  caused  some  writers  to  confuse  them  with  the  other  Algonquian  tribe 
"People  of  the  Prairie,"  in  latter  times  known  as  Mascoutens.  The  Pota- 
watomi were  active  allies  of  the  French  until  the  peace  of  1763,  and  afterward 
of  the  British  until  1815.  Gradually  they  removed  westward,  as  the  American 


one]  SAVAGE  ALLIES  OF  NEW  FRANCE  303 

course  caused  among  them  jealousy  and  divorce;  for 
their  families  are  scattered  to  the  right  and  to  the  left 
along  the  Mecheygan  [i.e.,  Lake  Michigan].  With  a 
view  of  gaining  for  themselves  special  esteem,  they 
make  presents  of  all  their  possessions,  stripping  them- 
selves of  even  necessary  articles,  in  their  eager  desire  to 
be  accounted  liberal.  Most  of  the  merchandise  for 
which  the  Outaoiias  trade  with  the  French  is  carried 
among  these  people. 

The  Sakis  have  always  been  neighbors  of  the  Poute- 
ouatemis,  and  have  even  built  a  village  with  them.  They 
separated  from  each  other  some  years  ago,  as  neither 
tribe  could  endure  to  be  subordinate ;  this  feeling  is  gen- 
eral among  all  the  savages,  and  each  man  is  master  of 
his  own  actions,  no  one  daring  to  contradict  him.  These 
peoples  are  not  intelligent,  and  are  of  brutal  nature  and 
unruly  disposition;  but  they  have  a  good  physique,  and 
are  quite  good-looking  for  savages;  they  are  thieves 
and  liars,  great  chatterers,  good  hunters,  and  very  poor 
canoemen. 

The  Malhominis  are  no  more  than  forty  in  number; 

settlements  increased  —  some,  however,  going  to  Canada  —  until,  in  1846,  all 
those  west  of  the  Mississippi  were  united  on  a  reservation  in  southern  Kansas. 
Many  of  them  — having  in  1861  taken  lands  in  severally  —  removed  in  1868  to 
Indian  Territory.  "A  considerable  body,  part  of  the  Prairie  band,  is  still  in 
Wisconsin ;  and  another  band,  the  Potawatomi  of  Huron,  is  in  lower  Michigan." 
(This  last  band  took  lands  in  severally  and  became  citizens,  by  1886.)  The 
Potawatomi  are  described  by  early  writers  as  being  very  friendly  to  the  French, 
well  disposed  toward  the  Christian  religion,  and  more  humane  and  civilized 
than  other  tribes;  and  their  women  were  more  reserved  and  modest  than 
those  of  most  other  tribes.  Polygamy  was  common  among  them.  Those  on 
Milwaukee  River  (who  were  then  considerably  intermixed  with  Sauk  and 
Winnebago)  were  in  1825  described  as  being  lazy,  and  much  inclined  to 
gambling  and  debauchery.  "The  tribe  probably  never  much  exceeded  3,000  souls, 
and  most  estimates  place  them  far  below  that  number."  In  1906  those  in  the 
United  States  were  reported  to  number  2,443,  mostly  of  the  "Citizen"  group  in 
Oklahoma.  Those  in  Canada  are  all  in  Ontario,  and  number  about  220,  most 
of  them  on  Walpole  Island  in  Lake  St.  Clair.- JAMES  MOONEY,  in  Handbook 
Amer.  Indians. 


304  LA  POTHERIE  [Vol. 

they  raise  a  little  Indian  corn,  but  live  upon  game  and 
sturgeons;  they  are  skillful  navigators.  If  the  Sauteurs 
are  adroit  in  catching  the  whitefish  at  the  Sault,  the 
Malhominis  are  no  less  so  in  spearing  the  sturgeon  in 
their  river.  For  this  purpose  they  use  only  small  ca- 
noes, very  light,  in  which  they  stand  upright,  and  in  the 
middle  of  the  current  spear  the  sturgeon  with  an  iron- 
pointed  pole;  only  canoes  are  to  be  seen,  morning  and 
evening.  They  are  good-natured  people,  not  very  keen 
of  intellect;  selfish  to  the  last  degree,  and  consequently 
characterized  by  a  sordid  avarice;  but  they  are  brave 
warriors. 

All  these  tribes  at  the  bay  are  most  favorably  situated ; 
the  country  is  a  beautiful  one,  and  they  have  fertile 
fields  planted  with  Indian  corn.  Game  is  abundant  at 
all  seasons,  and  in  winter  they  hunt  bears  and  beavers; 
they  hunt  deer  at  all  times,  and  they  even  fish  for  wild- 
fowl. I  will  explain  my  remark;  in  autumn  there  is  a 
prodigious  abundance  of  ducks,  both  black  and  white, 
of  excellent  flavor,  and  the  savages  stretch  nets  in  certain 
places  where  these  fowl  alight  to  feed  upon  the  wild 
rice.  Then  advancing  silently  in  their  canoes,  they 
draw  them  up  alongside  of  the  nets,  in  which  the  birds 
have  been  caught.  They  also  capture  pigeons  in  their 
nets,  in  the  summer.  They  make  in  the  woods  wide 
paths,  in  which  they  spread  large  nets,  in  the  shape  of  a 
bag,  wide  open,  and  attached  at  each  side  to  the  trees ; 
and  they  make  a  little  hut  of  branches,  in  which  they 
hide.  When  the  pigeons  in  their  flight  get  within  this 
open  space,  the  savages  pull  a  small  cord  which  is 
drawn  through  the  edge  of  the  net,  and  thus  capture 
sometimes  five  or  six  hundred  birds  in  one  morning,  es- 
pecially in  windy  weather.206  All  the  year  round  they 

208  The  Indian  practice  of  capturing  wild  fowl  in  nets  is  also  described  by 
Dablon  in  the  Relation  of  1671-1672  (Jesuit  Relations,  vol.  Ivi,  121).  The 


one]  SAVAGE  ALLIES  OF  NEW  FRANCE  305 

fish  for  sturgeon,  and  for  herring  in  the  autumn ;  and  in 
winter  they  have  fruits.  Although  their  rivers  are 
deep,  they  close  the  stream  with  a  sort  of  hurdle,  leaving 
open  places  through  which  the  fish  can  pass;  in  these 
spaces  they  set  a  sort  of  net  which  they  can  cast  or  draw 
in  when  they  please;  and  several  small  cords  are  at- 
tached, which,  although  they  seem  to  close  the  opening, 
nevertheless  afford  passage  to  the  fish.  The  savages  are 
apprised  of  the  entrance  of  the  fish  into  the  net  by  a  little 
bell  which  they  fasten  on  the  upper  part  of  it;207  when 
this  sounds,  they  pull  in  their  fish.  This  fishery  suffices 
to  maintain  large  villages;  they  also  gather  wild  rice 

passenger  pigeon  (Ectopistes  migratoria)  was  even  in  recent  times  a  notable 
feature  in  the  wild  life  of  the  northwest.  Many  persons  now  living  can  re- 
member seeing  flocks  of  these  birds  so  numerous  and  crowded  as  to  obscure 
the  sunlight,  and  requiring  several  hours  to  pass  a  given  point.  But  they  were 
recklessly  slaughtered  by  the  early  settlers,  as  well  as  by  the  less  intelligent 
Indians;  and  afterward  many  pot-hunters  made  it  a  regular  business  to  trap 
and  shoot  the  pigeons  for  the  city  markets.  In  consequence  of  these  enemies 
the  species  is  now  exterminated  —  a  painful  illustration  of  the  selfishness  and 
greed  of  men  who  ought  to  know  better,  and  from  whom  better  things  might 
have  been  expected;  for  the  early  settlers  of  the  states  carved  from  the  north- 
west territory  were  mainly  American  people  of  exceptional  intelligence  and  char- 
acter. In  a  private  letter  dated  March  13,  1909,  C.  Hart  Merriam,  then  chief 
of  the  U.S.  Biological  Survey,  says:  "We  fear  that  the  passenger  pigeon  is 
extinct,  although  I  am  not  sure  that  this  is  the  case,  and  still  have  a  lingering 
hope  that  a  few  of  the  birds  still  exist."  H.  W.  Henshaw,  present  chief  of  the 
same  bureau,  says  (in  a  letter  of  Dec.  22,  1910) :  "I  am  afraid  that  it  is  only 
too  true  that  the  last  surviving  individual  of  our  passenger  pigeon  is  the  one 
in  the  Cincinnati  Zoological  Garden.  The  efforts  to  preserve  this  beautiful 
species  were  begun  much  too  late."  —  ED. 

207  "Metal  bells  were  in  common  use  in  middle  America  in  pre-Columbian 
times,  but  they  are  rarely  found  north  of  the  Rio  Grande,  either  in  possession 
of  the  tribes  or  on  ancient  sites;  but  bells  were  certainly  known  to  the 
Pueblos  and  possibly  to  the  mound-builders  before  the  arrival  of  the  whites. 
The  rattle  made  of  shells  of  various  kinds  or  modeled  in  clay  passed  naturally 
into  the  bell  as  soon  as  metal  or  other  particularly  resonant  materials  were 
available  for  their  manufacture."  Of  copper  bells  "many  specimens  must  have 
reached  Florida  from  Mexico  and  Central  America  in  early  Columbian  times; 
and  it  is  well  known  that  bells  of  copper  or  bronze  were  employed  in  trade  with 
the  tribes  by  the  English  colonists,  numerous  examples  of  which  have  been 
obtained  from  mounds  and  burial  places."- W.  H.  HOLMES,  in  Handbook  Amer. 
Indians. 


3o6  LA  POTHERIE  [Vol. 

and  acorns ;  accordingly,  the  peoples  of  the  bay  can  live 
in  the  utmost  comfort. 

The  Mantouechs, 208  who  formerly  composed  a  large 
village,  resided  about  forty  leagues  inland,  north  of  the 
bay.  They  were  the  most  warlike  people  in  all  North 
America,  and  when  they  went  out  on  the  war-path  the 
other  tribes  trembled.  It  was  never  possible  to  conquer 
them;  however,  all  the  [other]  tribes,  jealous  of  their 
power,  leagued  against  them,  and  through  the  treachery 
of  the  Malhominis  (who  called  themselves  their  friends) 
they  were  massacred -taken  by  surprise,  in  the  same 
way  as  the  Islinois  were  by  the  Puans-and  only  the 
women  and  children  remained,  who  were  made  slaves. 

Chapter  VIII  .  ,| 

[Summary  of  pages  81-85:  The  Iroquoishad  always, 
since  the  first  coming  of  the  French  to  Canada,  been 
hostile  to  the  Algonkin  tribes,  and  were  continually 
making  raids  on  them ;  the  latter  were  from  the  outset 
friendly  to  the  French,  who  "needed  those  people,  in 
order  to  maintain  themselves  at  Quebec,"  and  both  ac- 
cordingly rendered  aid  to  each  other  against  the  Iro- 
quois,  the  common  enemy.  But  in  1665  arrived  a  new 
viceroy  of  the  French  possessions  in  America,  Marquis 
de  Tracy ;  he  brought  not  only  new  .colonists  for  Canada, 
but  a  regiment  of  French  regular  troops,  with  whom  he 
was  able  to  send  a  powerful  punitive  expedition  against 
the  Iroquois  in  their  own  country -inflicting  so  severe 
chastisement  on  them  that  he  compelled  them  to  sue  for 

208  The  Mantouek  were  "a  tribe,  possibly  the  Mdewakanton  Sioux  or  its 
Matantonwan  division,  known  to  the  French  missionaries;  placed  by  the  Jesuit 
Relation  of  1640  north  of  a  small  lake  west  of  Sault  Ste.  Marie,  and  by  the 
Relation  of  1658  with  the  Nadouechiouek  [i.e.,  Dakota],  the  two  having  forty 
towns  ten  days'  travel  northwest  of  the  mission  St.  Michael  of  the  Pota- 
watomi."  —  Handbook  Amer.  Indians. 


one]  SAVAGE  ALLIES  OF  NEW  FRANCE  307 

peace.  Two  years  later  (after  the  viceroy's  return  to 
France)  two  of  his  relatives  and  another  French  officer 
were  wantonly  slain  by  the  treacherous  Iroquois  while 
out  hunting.  The  governor,  M.  de  Courcelles,  at  once 
threatened  them  with  war  unless  they  delivered  up  the 
murderer;  they  were  alarmed  at  this,  and  sent  forty  of 
their  warriors  with  Agariata,  who  had  slain  the  French- 
men. This  man,  notwithstanding  the  entreaties  and 
lamentations  of  his  followers,  was  hanged  in  their  pres- 
ence-a  punishment  which  they  had  never  before  seen; 
and  the  Iroquois  were  so  terrified  that  they  maintained 
peace  with  the  French  until  1683,  when  war  again  broke 
out.] 

All  the  Outaouak  peoples  were  in  alarm.  While  we 
were  waging  war  with  the  Iroquois,  those  tribes  who 
dwelt  about  Lake  Huron  fled  for  refuge  to  Chagoua- 
mikon,  which  is  on  Lake  Superior;  they  came  down  to 
Montreal  only  when  they  wished  to  sell  their  peltries, 
and  then,  trembling  [with  dread  of  the  enemy].  The 
trade  was  not  yet  opened  with  the  Outaouaks.  The 
name  of  the  French  people  gradually  became  known  in 
that  region,  and  some  of  the  French  made  their  way 
into  those  places  where  they  believed  that  they  could 
make  some  profit;  it  was  a  Peru  for  them.  The  sav- 
ages could  not  understand  why  these  men  came  so  far 
to  search  for  their  worn-out  beaver  robes;  meanwhile 
they  admired  all  the  wares  brought  to  them  by  the 
French,  which  they  regarded  as  extremely  precious.  The 
knives,  the  hatchets,  the  iron  weapons  above  all,  could 
not  be  sufficiently  praised;  and  the  guns  so  astonished 
them  that  they  declared  that  there  was  a  spirit  within  the 
gun,  which  caused  the  loud  noise  made  when  it  was 
fired.  It  is  a  fact  that  an  Esquimau  from  Cape  Digue, 
at  60°  latitude,  in  the  strait  of  Hudson  Bay,  displayed  so 


3o8  LA  POTHERIE  [Vol. 

much  surprise  to  me  when  he  saw  a  gode**9  suddenly 
fall,  covered  with  blood,  as  the  result  of  a  gunshot,  that 
he  stood  motionless  with  the  wonder  caused  by  a  thing 
which  seemed  to  him  so  extraordinary.  The  Frenchmen 
who  traded  with  the  Canadian  tribes  were  often  amused 
at  seeing  those  people  in  raptures  of  this  sort.  The  sav- 
ages often  took  them  [the  Frenchmen]  for  spirits  and 
gods;  if  any  tribe  had  some  Frenchmen  among  them, 
that  was  sufficient  to  make  them  feel  safe  from  any  in- 
juries by  their  neighbors;  and  the  French  became  me- 
diators in  all  their  quarrels.  The  detailed  conversations 
which  I  have  had  with  many  voyageurs  in  those  coun- 
tries have  supplied  me  with  material  for  my  accounts 
of  those  peoples ;  all  that  they  have  told  me  about  them 
has  so  uniformly  agreed  that  I  have  felt  obliged  to  give 
the  public  some  idea  of  that  vast  region. 

Sieur  Perot  has  best  known  those  peoples ;  the  gover- 
nors-general of  Canada  have  always  employed  him  in 
all  their  schemes ;  and  his  acquaintance  with  the  savage 
tongues,  his  experience,  and  his  mental  ability  have  en- 
abled him  to  make  discoveries  which  gave  opportunity 
to  Monsieur  de  la  Salle  to  push  forward  all  those  ex- 
plorations in  which  he  achieved  so  great  success.  It 
was  through  his  agency  that  the  Mississippi  became 
known.  He  rendered  very  important  services  to  the 

209  Gode  is  defined  by  Bescherelle  as  the  name  of  a  small  sea-bird  on  the 
coast  of  Brittany;  [the  name  was  probably  applied  by  the  French  explorers  or 
fishermen  to  some  bird  in  Canada  resembling  it].  Mr.  C.  E.  Dionne,  the  cura- 
tor of  the  museum  of  Laval  University  at  Quebec,  says  in  his  Oiseaux  du 
Canada  that  the  name  gode  now  belongs  to  the  common  murre  or  razor-billed 
auk  (A lea  torda),  and  adds:  "This  bird,  which  is  popularly  called  gode,  fre- 
quents the  shores  and  islands  of  the  north  Atlantic,  where  it  very  commonly 
makes  its  appearance.  On  the  American  continent  it  is  occasionally  seen  in 
winter  as  far  south  as  North  Carolina.  It  is  common  in  the  St.  Lawrence 
River  and  Gulf."  —  CRAWFORD  LINDSAY,  official  translator  for  the  legislature  of 
Quebec. 

Cape  "Digue"  is  Cape  Diggs,  at  the  northeast  corner  of  Hudson  Bay.  —  ED. 


one]  SAVAGE  ALLIES  OF  NEW  FRANCE  309 

Colony,  made  known  the  glory  of  the  king  [of  France] 
among  those  peoples,  and  induced  them  to  form  an  al- 
liance with  us.  On  one  occasion,  among  the  Poute- 
ouatemis,  he  was  regarded  as  a  god.  Curiosity  induced 
him  to  form  the  acquaintance  of  this  nation,  who  dwelt 
at  the  foot  of  the  Bay  of  Puans.  They  had  heard  of  the 
French,  and  their  desire  to  become  acquainted  with 
them  in  order  to  secure  the  trade  with  them  had  induced 
these  savages  to  go  down  to  Montreal,  under  the  guid- 
ance of  a  wandering  Outaouak  who  was  glad  to  conduct 
them  thither.  The  French  had  been  described  to  them 
as  covered  with  hair  (the  savages  have  no  beards),  and 
they  believed  that  we  were  of  a  different  species  from 
other  men.  They  were  astonished  to  see  that  we  were 
made  like  themselves,  and  regarded  it  as  a  present  that 
the  sky  and  the  spirits  had  made  them  in  permitting  one 
of  the  celestial  beings  to  enter  their  land.  The  old  men 
solemnly  smoked  a  calumet  and  came  into  his  presence, 
offering  it  to  him  as  homage  that  they  rendered  to  him. 
After  he  had  smoked  the  calumet,  it  was  presented  by 
the  chief  to  his  tribesmen,  who  all  offered  it  in  turn  to 
one  another,  blowing  from  their  mouths  the  tobacco- 
smoke  over  him  as  if  it  were  incense.  They  said  to  him : 
"Thou  art  one  of  the  chief  spirits,  since  thou  usest  iron; 
it  is  for  thee  to  rule  and  protect  all  men.  Praised  be  the 
Sun,  who  has  instructed  thee  and  sent  thee  to  our  coun- 
try." They  adored  him  as  a  god ;  they  took  his  knives 
and  hatchets  and  incensed  them  with  the  tobacco-smoke 
from  their  mouths;  and  they  presented  to  him  so  many 
kinds  of  food  that  he  could  not  taste  them  all.  "It  is  a 
spirit,"  they  said ;  "these  provisions  that  he  has  not  tasted 
are  not  worthy  of  his  lips."  When  he  left  the  room,  they 
insisted  on  carrying  him  upon  their  shoulders ;  the  way 
over  which  he  passed  was  made  clear;  they  did  [not] 


3io  LA  POTHERIE  [Vol. 

dare  look  in  his  face;  and  the  women  and  children 
watched  him  from  a  distance.  "He  is  a  spirit,"  they 
said ;  "let  us  show  our  affection  for  him,  and  he  will  have 
pity  on  us."  The  savage  who  had  introduced  him  to 
this  tribe  was,  in  acknowledgment  thereof,  treated  as  a 
captain.  Perot  was  careful  not  to  receive  all  these  acts 
of  adoration,  although,  it  is  true,  he  accepted  these 
honors  so  far  as  the  interests  of  religion  were  not  con- 
cerned. He  told  them  that  he  was  not  what  they 
thought,  but  only  a  Frenchman ;  that  the  real  Spirit  who 
had  made  all  had  given  to  the  French  the  knowledge  of 
iron,  and  the  ability  to  handle  it  as  if  it  were  paste.  He 
said  that  that  Spirit,  desiring  to  show  his  pity  for  his 
creatures,  had  permitted  the  French  nation  to  settle  in 
their  country  in  order  to  remove  them  from  the  blind- 
ness in  which  they  had  dwelt,  as  they  had  not  known  the 
true  God,  the  author  of  nature,  whom  the  French 
adored;  that,  when  they  had  established  a  friendship 
with  the  French,  they  would  receive  from  the  latter  all 
possible  assistance;  and  that  he  had  come  to  facilitate 
acquaintance  between  them  by  the  discoveries  of  the 
various  tribes  which  he  was  making.  And,  as  the  beaver 
was  valued  by  his  people,  he  wished  to  ascertain  whether 
there  were  not  a  good  opportunity  for  them  to  carry  on 
trade  therein. 

At  that  time  there  was  war  between  that  tribe  and 
their  neighbors,  the  Malhominis.  The  latter,  while 
hunting  with  the  Outagamis,  had  by  mistake  slain  a 
Pouteouatemi,  who  was  on  his  way  to  the  Outagamis. 
The  Pouteouatemis,  incensed  at  this  affront,  deliberate- 
ly tomahawked  a  Malhomini  who  was  among  the  Puans. 
In  the  Pouteouatemi  village  there  were  only  women  and 
old  men,  as  the  young  men  had  gone  for  the  first  time  to 
trade  at  Montreal;  and  there  was  reason  to  fear  that 


one]  SAVAGE  ALLIES  OF  NEW  FRANCE  311 

the  Malhominis  would  profit  by  that  mischance.  Perot, 
who  was  desirous  of  making  their  acquaintance,  offered 
to  mediate  a  peace  between  them.  When  he  had  arrived 
within  half  a  league  of  the  [Malhomini]  village,  he  sent 
a  man  to  tell  them  that  a  Frenchman  was  coming  to 
visit  them;  this  news  caused  universal  joy.  All  the 
youths  came  at  once  to  meet  him,  bearing  their  weapons 
and  their  warlike  adornments,  all  marching  in  file,  with 
frightful  contortions  and  yells ;  this  was  the  most  hon- 
orable reception  that  they  thought  it  possible  to  give 
him.  He  was  not  uneasy,  but  fired  a  gun  in  the  air  as 
far  away  as  he  could  see  them ;  this  noise,  which  seemed 
to  them  so  extraordinary,  caused  them  to  halt  suddenly, 
gazing  at  the  sun  in  most  ludicrous  attitudes.  After  he 
had  made  them  understand  that  he  had  come  not  to 
disturb  their  repose,  but  to  form  an  alliance  with  them, 
they  approached  him  with  many  gesticulations.  The 
calumet  was  presented  to  him;  and,  when  he  was  ready 
to  proceed  to  the  village,  one  of  the  savages  stooped 
down  in  order  to  carry  Perot  upon  his  shoulders;  but 
his  interpreter  assured  them  that  he  had  refused  such 
honors  among  many  tribes.  He  was  escorted  with  as- 
siduous attentions ;  they  vied  with  one  another  in  clear- 
ing the  path,  and  in  breaking  off  the  branches  of  trees 
which  hung  in  the  way.  The  women  and  children,  who 
had  heard  "the  spirit"  (for  thus  they  call  a  gun),  had 
fled  into  the  woods.  The  men  assembled  in  the  cabin  of 
the  leading  war  chief,  where  they  danced  the  calumet 
to  the  sound  of  the  drum.  He  had  them  all  assemble 
next  day,  and  made  them  a  speech  in  nearly  these  words : 
"Men,  the  true  Spirit  who  has  created  all  men  de- 
sires to  put  an  end  to  your  miseries.  Your  ancestors 
would  not  listen  to  him;  they  always  followed  natural 
impulses  alone,  without  remembering  that  they  had 


3i2  LA  POTHERIE  [Vol. 

their  being  from  him.  He  created  them  to  live  in 
peace  with  their  fellow-men.  He  does  not  like  war  or 
disunion;  he  desires  that  men,  to  whom  he  has  given 
reason,  should  remember  that  they  all  are  brothers,  and 
that  they  have  only  one  God,  who  has  formed  them  to 
do  only  his  will.  He  has  given  them  dominion  over 
the  animals,  and  at  the  same  time  has  forbidden  them  to 
make  any  attacks  on  one  another.  He  has  given  the 
Frenchmen  iron,  in  order  to  distribute  it  among  those 
peoples  who  have  not  the  use  of  it,  if  they  are  willing 
to  live  as  men,  and  not  as  beasts.  He  is  angry  that  you 
are  at  war  with  the  Pouteouatemis ;  even  though  it 
seemed  that  they  had  a  right  to  avenge  themselves  on 
your  young  man  who  was  among  the  Puans,  God  is 
nevertheless  offended  at  them,  for  he  forbids  vengeance, 
and  commands  union  and  peace.  The  sun  has  never 
been  very  bright  on  your  horizon ;  you  have  always  been 
wrapped  in  the  shadows  of  a  dark  and  miserable  ex- 
istence, never  having  enjoyed  the  true  light  of  day,  as 
the  French  do.  Here  is  a  gun,  which  I  place  before 
you  to  defend  you  from  those  who  may  attack  you ;  if 
you  have  enemies,  it  will  cause  them  terror.  Here  is  a 
porcelain  collar,  by  which  I  bind  you  to  my  body;  what 
will  you  have  to  fear,  if  you  unite  yourselves  to  us,  who 
make  guns  and  hatchets,  and  who  knead  iron  as  you  do 
pitch?  I  have  united  myself  with  the  Pouteouatemis,  on 
whom  you  are  planning  to  make  war.  I  have  come  to 
embrace  all  the  men  whom  Onontio  ["Monsieur  de 
Coursel"-La  Potherie],  the  chief  of  all  the  French 
who  have  settled  in  this  country,  has  told  me  to  join  to- 
gether, in  order  to  take  them  under  his  protection. 
Would  you  refuse  his  support,  and  kill  one  another 
when  he  desires  to  establish  peace  between  you?  The 
Pouteouatemis  are  expecting  many  articles  suited  to  war 


one]  SAVAGE  ALLIES  OF  NEW  FRANCE  313 

from  the  hands  of  Onontio.  You  have  been  so  evenly 
matched  [with  them ;  but  now]  would  you  abandon  your 
families  to  the  mercy  of  their  [fire]  arms,  and  be  at  war 
with  them  against  the  will  of  the  French?  I  come  to 
make  the  discovery  of  [new]  tribes,  only  to  return  here 
with  my  brothers,  who  will  come  with  me  among  those 
people  who  are  willing  to  unite  themselves  to  us.  Could 
you  hunt  in  peace  if  we  give  [weapons  of]  iron  to  those 
who  furnish  us  beaver-skins?  You  are  angry  against  the 
Pouteouatemis,  whom  you  regard  as  your  enemies,  but 
they  are  in  much  greater  number  than  you;  and  I  am 
much  afraid  that  the  prairie  people  will  at  the  same  time 
form  a  league  against  you." 

The  Father  of  the  Malhomini  who  had  been  mur- 
dered by  the  Pouteouatemis  arose  and  took  the  collar 
that  Perot  had  given  him ;  he  lighted  his  calumet,  and 
presented  it  to  him,  and  then  gave  it  to  the  chief  and  all 
who  were  present,  who  smoked  it  in  turn ;  then  he  began 
to  sing,  holding  the  calumet  in  one  hand,  and  the  collar 
in  the  other.  He  went  out  of  the  cabin  while  he  sang, 
and,  presenting  the  calumet  and  collar  toward  the  sun, 
he  walked  sometimes  backwards,  sometimes  forward;  he 
made  the  circuit  of  his  own  cabin,  went  past  a  great 
number  of  those  in  the  village,  and  finally  returned  to 
that  of  the  chief.  There  he  declared  that  he  attached 
himself  wholly  to  the  French;  that  he  believed  in  the 
living  Spirit,  who  had,  in  behalf  of  all  the  spirits, 
domination  over  all  other  men,  who  were  inferior  to 
him ;  that  all  his  tribe  had  the  same  sentiments ;  and  that 
they  asked  only  the  protection  of  the  French,  from 
whom  they  hoped  for  life  and  for  obtaining  all  that  is 
necessary  to  man. 

The  Pouteouatemis  were  very  impatient  to  learn  the 
fate  of  their  people  who  had  gone  trading  to  Montreal; 


314  LA  POTHERIE  [Vol. 

they  feared  that  the  French  might  treat  them  badly,  or 
that  they  would  be  defeated  by  the  Iroquois.  Accord- 
ingly, they  had  recourse  to  Perot's  guide,  who  was  a 
master  juggler.  That  false  prophet  built  himself  a  little 
tower  of  poles,  and  therein  chanted  several  songs, 
through  which  he  invoked  all  the  infernal  spirits  to  tell 
him  where  the  Pouteouatemis  were.  The  reply  was 
that  they  were  at  the  Oulamanistik  River,210  which  is 
three  days'  journey  from  their  village;  that  they  had 
been  well  received  by  the  French ;  and  that  they  were 
bringing  a  large  supply  of  merchandise.  This  oracle 
would  have  been  believed  if  Perot,  who  knew  that  his 
interpreter  had  played  the  juggler,  had  not  declared  that 
he  was  a  liar.  The  latter  came  to  Perot,  and  heaped 
upon  him  loud  reproaches,  complaining  that  he  did  not 
at  all  realize  what  hardships  his  interpreter  had  en- 
countered in  this  voyage,  and  that  it  was  Perot's  fault 
that  he  had  not  been  recompensed  for  his  prediction. 
The  old  men  begged  that  Perot  himself  would  relieve 
them  from  their  anxiety.  After  telling  them  that  such 
knowledge  belonged  only  to  God,  he  made  a  calculation, 
from  the  day  of  their  departure,  of  the  stay  that  they 
would  probably  make  at  Montreal,  and  of  the  time  when 
their  return  might  be  expected;  and  determined  very 
nearly  the  time  when  they  could  reach  home.  Fifteen 
days  later,  a  man  fishing  for  sturgeon  came  to  the  vil- 
lage in  great  fright,  to  warn  them  that  he  had  seen  a 
canoe,  from  which  several  gunshots  had  proceeded;  this 
was  enough  to  make  them  believe  that  the  Iroquois  were 
coming  against  them.  Disorder  prevailed  throughout 
the  village;  they  were  ready  to  flee  into  the  woods  or  to 
shut  themselves  into  their  fort.  There  was  no  proba- 
bility that  these  were  Iroquois,  who  usually  make  their 

210  The  Manistique  River,  which,  with  its  tributaries,  waters  Schoolcraft 
County,  Michigan.  —  ED. 


one]  SAVAGE  ALLIES  OF  NEW  FRANCE  315 

attacks  by  stealth;  Perot  conjectured  that  they  were 
probably  their  own  men,  who  were  thus  displaying  their 
joy  as  they  came  near  the  village.  In  fact,  a  young  man 
who  had  been  sent  out  as  a  scout  came  back,  in  breath- 
less haste,  and  reported  that  it  was  their  own  people  who 
were  returning.  If  their  terror  had  caused  general  con- 
sternation, this  good  news  caused  no  less  joy  throughout 
the  village.  Two  chiefs,  who  had  seen  Perot  blow  into 
his  gun  at  the  time  of  the  first  alarm,  came  to  let  him 
know  of  the  arrival  of  their  people,  and  begged  him  al- 
ways to  consult  his  gun.  All  were  eager  to  receive  the 
fleet.  As  they  approached,  the  new-comers  discharged 
a  salvo  of  musketry,  followed  by  shouts  and  yells,  and 
continued  their  firing  as  they  came  toward  the  village. 
When  they  were  two  or  three  hundred  paces  from  the 
shore,  the  chief  rose  in  his  canoe  and  harangued  the  old 
men  who  stood  at  the  water's  edge ;  he  gave  an  account 
of  the  favorable  reception  which  had  been  accorded 
them  at  Montreal.  An  old  man  informed  them,  mean- 
while praising  the  sky  and  the  sun  who  had  thus  favored 
them,  that  there  was  a  Frenchman  in  the  village  who 
had  protected  them  in  several  times  of  danger;  at  this, 
the  Pouteouatemis  suddenly  flung  themselves  into  the 
water,  to  show  their  joy  at  so  pleasing  an  occurrence. 
They  had  taken  pleasure  in  painting  [matacher]  them- 
selves in  a  very  peculiar  manner;  and  the  French  gar- 
ments, which  had  been  intended  to  make  them  more 
comfortable,  disfigured  them  in  a  ludicrous  fashion. 
They  carried  Perot  with  them,  whether  or  no  he  would, 
in  a  scarlet  blanket  (Monsieur  de  la  Salle  was  also  hon- 
ored with  a  like  triumph  at  Huron  Island),  and  made 
him  go  around  the  fort,  while  they  marched  in  double 
files  in  front  and  behind  him,  with  guns  over  their 
shoulders,  often  firing  volleys.  This  cortege  arrived  at 


3i6  LA  POTHERIE  [Vol. 

the  cabin  of  the  chief  who  had  led  the  band,  where  all 
the  old  men  were  assembled ;  and  a  great  feast  of  stur- 
geon was  served.  This  chief  then  related  a  more  de- 
tailed account  of  his  voyage,  and  gave  a  very  correct 
idea  of  French  usages.  He  described  how  the  trade 
was  carried  on;  he  spoke  with  enthusiasm  of  what  he 
had  seen  in  the  houses,  especially  of  the  cooking;  and  he 
did  not  forget  to  exalt  Onontio,211  who  had  called  them 
his  children  and  had  regaled  them  with  bread,  prunes, 
and  raisins,  which  seemed  to  them  great  delicacies. 

Chapter  IX 

Those  peoples  were  so  delighted  with  the  alliance 
that  they  had  just  made  that  they  sent  deputies  in  every 
direction  to  inform  the  Islinois,  Miamis,212  Outagamis, 

211  Onontio  was  the  Huron-Iroquois  appellation  of  the  governor  of  Canada; 
it  was  afterward  extended  to  the  governor  of  New  York,  and  even  to  the  king 
of  France.  —  ED. 

212  The   Miami   were   an  Algonquian   tribe,   first   mentioned    (Relation  of 
1658)   as  living  near  the  mouth  of  Green  Bay;  when  first  seen  by  the  French 
(in  Ferret's  visits,  1668  and  1670)  they  were  living  at  the  headwaters  of  the 
Fox  River  — part  of  them,  at  least,  living  with  the  Mascoutens  in  a  palisaded 
village  there.     "Soon  after  this,  the  Miami  parted  from  the  Mascoutens,  and 
formed  new  settlements  at  the  south  end  of  Lake  Michigan  and  on  Kalamazoo 
River,  Mich.     The  settlements  at  the  south  end  of  the  lake  were  at  Chicago 
and  on  St  Joseph  River,  where  missions  were  established  late  in  the  seven- 
teenth century."     Those  at  Chicago  were  probably  the  Indians  found  there  by 
Marquette    and   some   others   whom   those   writers   called   Wea.     The    Miami 
first  found  in  Wisconsin  must  have  been  but  a  part  of  the  tribe,  which  seems  to 
have  occupied  territory  in  northeastern  Illinois,  northern  Indiana,  and  western 
Ohio.     Their  chief  village  on  St.  Joseph  River  was  said  to  be  fifteen  leagues 
inland;  in  1703  they  had  also  a  village  at  Detroit,  and  in  1711  at  Kekionga 
(on  the  Maumee;  the  seat  of  the  Miami  proper),  and  at  Ouiatanon   (on  the 
Wabash;  the  headquarters  of  the  Wea  branch).     By  the  encroachments  of  the 
northern  tribes  the  Miami  were  driven  from  the  St.  Joseph  River  and  the  region 
northwest   of    the   Wabash,    and    colonies    of   them    moved    eastward    to   the 
Miami  and  Scioto  Rivers;  but  after  the  peace  of  1763  they  abandoned  these 
settlements  and  retired  to  Indiana.     "They  took   a  prominent  part  in   all  the 
Indian  wars  in  Ohio  valley  until  the  close  of  the  War  of  1812.     Soon  after- 
ward they  began  to  sell  their  lands,  and  by  1827  had  disposed  of  most  of  their 
holdings  in  Indiana  and  had  agreed  to  remove  to  Kansas,  whence  they  went 


one]  SAVAGE  ALLIES  OF  NEW  FRANCE  317 

Maskoutechs,  and  Kikabous  that  they  had  been  at  Mon- 
treal, whence  they  had  brought  much  merchandise; 
they  besought  those  tribes  to  visit  them  and  bring  them 
beavers.  Those  tribes  were  too  far  away  to  profit  by 
this  at  first;  only  the  Outagamis  came  to  establish  them- 
selves for  the  winter  at  a  place  thirty  leagues  from  the 
bay,  in  order  to  share  in  the  benefit  of  the  goods  which 
they  could  obtain  from  the  Pouteouatemis.  Their  hope 
that  some  Frenchmen  would  come  from  Chagouamikon 
induced  them  to  accumulate  as  many  beavers  as  possible. 
The  Pouteouatemis  took  the  southern  part  of  the  bay, 
the  Sakis  the  northern;  the  Puans,  as  they  could  not 
fish,  had  gone  into  the  woods  to  live  on  deer  and  bears. 
When  the  Outagamis  had  formed  a  village  of  more  than 
six  hundred  cabins,  they  sent  to  the  Sakis,  at  the  begin- 
ning of  spring,  to  let  them  know  of  the  new  establish- 
ment that  they  had  formed.213  The  latter  sent  them  some 
chiefs,  with  presents,  to  ask  them  to  remain  in  this  new 
settlement;  they  were  accompanied  by  some  Frenchmen. 
They  found  a  large  village,  but  destitute  of  everything. 

later  to  Indian  Territory,  where  the  remnant  still  resides."  One  of  their  bands, 
however,  continued  to  reside  on  a  reservation  in  Wabash  County,  Ind.,  until 
1872,  when  the  land  was  divided  among  the  survivors,  then  numbering  about 
300.  Early  writers  praise  the  mildness,  politeness,  and  sedateness  of  the  Miami, 
and  their  respect  and  obedience  to  their  chiefs,  who  had  much  more  authority 
than  those  of  other  Algonquian  tribes.  It  is  impossible  to  make  satisfactory 
statements  of  the  population  of  the  Miami,  since  they  have  been  so  frequently 
confused  with  the  Wea  and  Piankashaw  tribes.  They  have  rapidly  decreased 
since  their  removal  to  the  west.  "Only  57  Miami  were  officially  known  in 
Indian  Territory  in  1885,  while  the  Wea  and  Piankashaw  were  confederated 
with  the  remnant  of  the  Illinois  under  the  name  of  Peoria,  the  whole  body 
numbering  but  149;  these  increased  to  191  in  1903.  The  total  number  of  Miami 
in  1905  in  Indian  Territory  was  124;  in  Indiana,  in  1900,  there  were  243; 
the  latter,  however,  are  greatly  mixed  with  white  blood.  Including  individuals 
scattered  among  other  tribes,  the  whole  number  is  probably  400." 

—  JAMES  MOONEY  and  CYRUS  THOMAS,  in  Handbook  Amer.  Indians. 

213  The  location  of  this  Outagami  village  is  a  matter  of  dispute,  and  thus 

far  cannot  be    positively   identified ;   but  most   probably   it  was   in   Waupaca 

County,  Wis.,  somewhere  on  the  Little  Wolf  River.     Various  local   historical 

writers  have  placed  it  near  Mukwa,  Manawa,  or  New  London.  —  ED. 


3i8  LA  POTHERIE  [Vol. 

Those  people  had  only  five  or  six  hatchets,  which  had 
no  edge,  and  they  used  these,  by  turns,  for  cutting  their 
wood;  they  had  hardly  one  knife  or  one  bodkin  to  a 
cabin,  and  cut  their  meat  with  the  stones214  which  they 
used  for  arrows ;  and  they  scaled  their  fish  with  mussel- 
shells.  Want  rendered  them  so  hideous  that  they 
aroused  compassion.  Although  their  bodies  were  large, 
they  seemed  deformed  in  shape ;  they  had  very  disagree- 
able faces,  brutish  voices,  and  evil  aspects.  They  were 

214  "primitive  men  doubtless  first  used  stones  in  their  natural  form  for  throw- 
ing, striking,  and  abrading;  but,  as  use  continued,  a  certain  amount  of  ad- 
ventitious shaping  of  the  stones  employed  necessarily  took  place,  and  this 
probably  suggested  and  led  to  intentional  shaping.  Men  early  learned  to  frac- 
ture brittle  stones  to  obtain  cutting,  scraping,  and  perforating  implements ;  and 
flaking,  pecking,  cutting,  scraping,  and  grinding  processes  served  later  to 
modify  shapes  and  to  increase  the  convenience,  effectiveness,  and  beauty  of 
implements.  Much  has  been  learned  of  the  course  of  progress  in  the  stone- 
shaping  arts  from  the  prehistoric  remains  of  Europe ;  and  studies  of  the  work 
of  the  native  American  tribes,  past  and  present,  are  supplying  data  for  a  much 
more  complete  understanding  of  this  important  branch  of  primitive  activity." 
At  the  time  of  the  discovery,  "the  Americans  north  of  Mexico  were  still  well 
within  the  stone  stage  of  culture.  Metal  had  come  somewhat  into  use,  but  in 
no  part  of  the  country  had  it  in  a  very  full  measure  taken  the  place  of  stone. 
According  to  the  most  approved  views  regarding  Old  World  culture  history 
the  metal  age  was  not  definitely  ushered  in  until  bronze  and  iron  came  into 
common  use,  not  only  as  shaping  implements  but  as  shaped  product."  The 
tribes  of  middle  America  had  with  stone  implements  constructed  handsome 
buildings  and  excellent  sculptures,  but  north  of  Mexico  only  the  Pueblo  group 
had  made  intelligent  and  extensive  use  of  stone  in  building,  except  for  the 
limited  use  made  of  it  by  the  mound-builders,  the  Eskimo  and  some  others; 
sculpture,  however,  was  employed  by  many  other  tribes  on  objects  used  for 
purposes  of  utility,  adornment,  and  religion.  A  great  variety  of  stones  were 
utilized  by  the  primitive  workers,  including  several  semi-precious  kinds.  "The 
processes  employed  in  shaping  these  materials  by  the  American  tribes,  and  for 
that  matter,  by  the  whole  primitive  world,  are:  (i)  fracturing  processes, 
variously  known  as  breaking,  spalling,  chipping,  flaking;  (2)  crumbling  pro- 
cesses, as  battering,  pecking;  (3)  incising  or  cutting  processes;  (4)  abrading 
processes,  as  sawing,  drilling,  scraping,  and  grinding;  and  (5)  polishing  pro- 
cesses. .  .  The  knowledge  acquired  in  recent  years  through  experiments  in 
stone-shaping  processes  has  led  unfortunately  to  the  manufacture  of  fraudulent 
imitations  of  aboriginal  implements  and  sculptures  for  commercial  purposes, 
and  so  great  is  the  skill  acquired  in  some  cases  that  it  is  extremely  difficult 
to  detect  the  spurious  work;  thus  there  is  much  risk  in  purchasing  objects  whose 
pedigree  is  not  fully  ascertained."  —  W.  H.  HOLMES,  in  Handbook  Amer.  Indians. 


one]  SAVAGE  ALLIES  OF  NEW  FRANCE  319 

continually  begging  from  our  Frenchmen  who  went 
among  them,  for  those  savages  imagined  that  whatever 
their  visitors  possessed  ought  to  be  given  to  them  gratis; 
everything  aroused  their  desires,  and  yet  they  had  few 
beavers  to  sell.  The  French  thought  it  prudent  to  leave 
to  the  Sakis  for  the  winter  the  trade  in  peltries  with  the 
Outagamis,  as  they  could  carry  it  on  with  the  former 
more  quietly  in  the  autumn. 

All  the  tribes  at  the  bay  went  to  their  villages  after 
the  winter,  to  sow  their  grain.  A  dispute  occurred  be- 
tween two  Frenchmen  and  an  old  man,  who  was  one  of 
the  leading  men  among  the  Pouteouatemis;  the  former 
demanded  payment  for  the  goods;  but  he  did  not  show 
much  inclination  to  pay;  sharp  words  arose  on  both 
sides,  and  they  came  to  blows.  The  Frenchmen  were 
vigorously  attacked  by  the  savages,  and  a  third  man 
came  to  the  aid  of  his  comrades.  The  confusion  in- 
creased ;  that  Frenchman  tore  the  pendants  from  the  ears 
of  a  savage,  and  gave  him  a  blow  in  the  belly  which 
felled  him  so  rudely  that  with  difficulty  could  he  rise 
again.  At  the  same  time  the  Frenchman  received  a 
blow  from  a  war-club  on  his  head,  which  caused  him  to 
fall  motionless.  There  were  great  disputes  among  the 
savages  in  regard  to  the  Frenchman  who  had  just  been 
wounded,  who  had  rendered  many  services  to  the  vil- 
lage. There  were  three  families  interested  in  this  con- 
tention-those  of  the  Red  Carp,  of  the  Black  Carp,  and 
of  the  Bear.215  The  head  of  the  Bear  family- an  inti- 
mate friend  of  the  Frenchman,  and  whose  son-in-law 
was  the  chief  of  the  Sakis  -  seized  a  hatchet,  and  declared 

216  These  "families"  were  simply  the  tribal  divisions  now  known  as  "clans" 
or  "gentes;"  they  have  been  characteristic  of  savage  society  in  all  times  and 
countries.  Each  clan  had  its  distinctive  symbol,  usually  a  fish,  bird,  or  other 
animal.  —  ED. 

"An  American  Indian  clan  or  gens  is  an  intertribal  exogamic  group  of 
persona  either  actually  or  theoretically  consanguine,  organized  to  promote 


320  LA  POTHERIE  [Vol. 

that  he  would  perish  with  the  Frenchman,  whom  the 
people  of  the  Red  Carp  had  slain.  The  Saki  chief, 
hearing  the  voice  of  his  father-in-law,  called  his  own 
men  to  arms;  the  Bear  family  did  the  same;  and  the 

their  social  and  political  welfare,  the  members  being  usually  denoted  by  a 
common  class  name  derived  generally  from  some  fact  relating  to  the  habitat 
of  the  group  or  to  its  usual  tutelary  being.  In  the  clan  lineal  descent,  inheri- 
tance of  personal  and  common  property,  and  the  hereditary  right  to  public 
office  and  trust  are  traced  through  the  female  line,  while  in  the  gens  they 
devolve  through  the  male  line.  Clan  and  gentile  organizations  are  by  no 
means  universal  among  the  North  American  tribes;  and  totemism,  the  pos- 
session or  even  the  worship  of  personal  or  communal  totems  by  individuals  or 
groups  of  persons,  is  not  an  essential  feature  of  clan  and  gentile  organiza- 
tions. .  .  Consanguine  kinship  among  the  Iroquoian  and  Muskhogean  tribes 
is  traced  through  the  blood  of  the  woman  only,  and  membership  in  a  clan 
constitutes  citizenship  in  the  tribe,  conferring  certain  social,  political,  and  re- 
ligious privileges,  duties,  and  rights  that  are  denied  to  aliens.  By  the  legal 
fiction  of  adoption  the  blood  of  the  alien  might  be  changed  into  one  of  the 
strains  of  Iroquoian  blood,  and  thus  citizenship  in  the  tribe  could  be  conferred 
on  a  person  of  alien  lineage."  The  primary  social  unit  among  these  peoples 
is  the  family,  comprising  all  the  male  and  female  progeny  of  a  woman  and  of 
all  her  female  descendants  in  the  female  line  and  of  such  other  persons  as  may 
be  adopted  into  this  group ;  its  head  is  usually  the  eldest  woman  in  it.  It 
may  be  composed  of  one  or  more  firesides,  and  one  or  more  families  may  (and 
usually  do)  constitute  a  clan;  and  all  its  land  is  the  exclusive  property  of  its 
women.  Among  the  rights  and  privileges  of  the  clans  are:  the  right  to  a  com- 
mon clan  name  (which  is  usually  that  of  an  animal,  bird,  reptile,  or  natural 
object  that  may  formerly  have  been  regarded  as  a  guardian  deity)  ;  representa- 
tion in  the  tribal  council ;  its  share  in  the  communal  property  of  the  tribe ;  pro- 
tection by  the  tribe;  certain  songs  and  religious  observances;  clan  councils; 
adoption  of  aliens;  a  common  burying-ground ;  the  election  or  impeachment  of 
chiefs  by  its  women ;  a  share  in  the  religious  ceremonies  and  public  festivals 
of  the  tribe;  etc.  Their  duties:  the  obligation  not  to  marry  within  the  clan; 
that  of  redeeming  the  life  of  a  clan  member  which  has  become  forfeited  for 
homicide;  to  aid  and  defend  fellow-members,  and  to  avenge  their  deaths;  to 
replace  by  other  persons  their  clansmen  lost  or  killed.  "Clans  and  gentes  are 
generally  organized  into  phratries  and  phratries  into  tribes.  Usually  only  two 
phratries  are  found  in  the  modern  organization  of  the  tribes.  .  .  One  or 
more  clans  may  compose  a  phratry.  The  clans  of  the  phratries  are  regarded  as 
brothers  one  to  another  and  cousins  to  the  other  members  of  the  phratry,  and 
are  so  addressed.  .  .  The  phratry  is  the  unit  of  organization  of  the  people 
for  ceremonial  and  other  assemblages  and  festival,  but  as  a  phratry  it  has  no 
officers;  the  chiefs  and  elders  of  the  clans  composing  it  serve  as  its  directors." 
The  government  of  a  clan  or  gens  seems  to  be  developed  from  that  of  the 
family  group,  and  in  turn  gives  rise  to  the  tribal  government;  and  a  confedera- 
tion, such  as  the  Iroquois  League,  is  governed  on  the  same  principle.  —  J.  N.  B. 
HEWITT,  in  Handbook  Amer.  Indians. 


one]  SAVAGE  ALLIES  OF  NEW  FRANCE  321 

wounded  Frenchman  began  to  recover  consciousness. 
He  calmed  the  Sakis,  who  were  greatly  enraged;  but 
the  savage  who  had  maltreated  him  was  compelled  to 
abandon  the  village.  These  same  Frenchmen's  lives 
were  in  danger  on  still  another  occasion.  One  of  them, 
who  was  amusing  himself  with  some  arrows,  told  a 
Saki  who  was  bathing  at  the  water's  edge  to  ward  off 
the  shaft  that  he  was  going  to  let  fly  at  him.  The  sav- 
age, who  held  a  small  piece  of  cloth,  told  him  to  shoot; 
but  he  was  not  adroit  enough  to  avoid  the  arrow,  which 
wounded  him  in  the  shoulder.  He  immediately  called 
out  that  the  Frenchman  had  slain  him;  but  another 
Frenchman  hastened  to  the  savage,  made  him  enter  his 
cabin,  and  drew  out  the  arrow.  He  was  pacified  by 
giving  him  a  knife,  a  little  vermilion  to  paint  his  face, 
and  a  piece  of  tobacco.  This  present  was  effectual;  for 
when,  at  the  Saki's  cry,  several  of  his  comrades  came, 
ready  to  avenge  him  on  the  spot,  the  wounded  man  cried, 
"What  are  you  about?  I  am  healed.  Metaminens" 
(which  means  "little  Indian  corn" -this  name  they  had 
given  to  the  Frenchman,  who  was  Perot  himself)  "has 
tied  my  hands  by  this  ointment  which  you  see  upon  my 
wound,  and  I  have  no  more  anger,"  at  the  same  time 
showing  the  present  that  Perot  had  given  him.  This 
presence  of  mind  checked  the  disturbance  that  was  about 
to  arise. 

The  Miamis,  the  Maskoutechs,  the  Kikabous,  and  fif- 
teen cabins  of  Islinois  came  toward  the  bay  in  the  fol- 
lowing summer,  and  made  their  clearings  thirty  miles 
away,  beside  the  Outagamis,  toward  the  south.  These 
peoples,  for  whom  the  Iroquois  were  looking,  had  gone 
southward  along  the  Mississippi  after  the  combat  which 
I  have  mentioned.216  Before  that  flight,  they  had  seen 

216  Apparently  a  reference  to  the  overthrow  of  the  Winnebago  by  the 
Illinois,  described  in  chapter  vii.  —  ED. 


322  LA  POTHERIE  [Vol. 

knives  and  hatchets  in  the  hands  of  the  Hurons  who  had 
had  dealings  with  the  French,  which  induced  them  to  as- 
sociate themselves  with  the  tribes  who  already  had  some 
union  with  us.  They  are  very  sportive  when  among 
their  own  people,  but  grave  before  strangers ;  well  built; 
lacking  in  intelligence,  and  dull  of  apprehension;  easily 
persuaded;  vain  in  language  and  behavior,  and  ex- 
tremely selfish.  They  consider  themselves  much  braver 
than  their  neighbors;  they  are  great  liars,  employing 
every  kind  of  baseness  to  accomplish  their  ends;  but 
they  are  industrious,  indefatigable,  and  excellent  pe- 
destrians. For  this  last  reason,  they  are  called  Metousce- 
prinioueks,  which  in  their  language  means  "Walkers." 
After  they  had  planted  their  fields  in  this  new  settle- 
ment, they  went  to  hunt  cattle.217  They  wished  to  enter- 
tain the  people  at  the  bay;  so  they  sent  envoys  to  ask 
the  Pouteouatemis  to  visit  them,  and  to  bring  the 
Frenchmen,  if  they  were  still  with  them.  But  those 
savages  were  careful  not  to  let  their  guests  know  how 
desirous  their  neighbors  were  to  become  acquainted 
with  the  French;  so  they  went  away  without  telling  the 
latter,  and  came  back  at  the  end  of  a  fortnight,  loaded 
with  meat  and  grease.  With  them  were  some  of  those 
new  settlers,  who  were  greatly  surprised  to  see  the 
French -whom  they  reproached  for  not  having  come  to 
visit  them  with  the  Pouteouatemis.  The  French  saw 
plainly  that  the  latter  were  jealous,  and  they  recognized 
the  importance  of  becoming  acquainted  with  those 
peoples,  who  had  come  to  the  bay  on  purpose  to  trade 
more  conveniently  with  us.  The  Pouteouatemis,  when 
they  saw  that  the  French  desired  to  go  away  with  a  Mi- 
ami and  a  Maskoutech,  made  representations  to  them 
that  there  were  no  beavers  among  those  people -who, 

217  Buffaloes  (see  note  93)   are  here  meant;  they  were  usually  called  "wild 
cattle"  or  "wild  cows"  by  the  early  French  explorers  and  writers.  —  ED. 


one]  SAVAGE  ALLIES  OF  NEW  FRANCE  323 

moreover,  were  very  boorish -and  even  that  they  were 
in  great  danger  of  being  plundered.  The  French  took 
their  departure,  notwithstanding  these  tales,  and  in  five 
days  reached  the  vicinity  of  the  village.218  The  Mas- 
koutech  sent  ahead  the  Miami,  who  had  a  gun,  with 
orders  to  fire  it  when  he  arrived  there ;  the  report  of  the 
gun  was  heard  soon  afterward.  Hardly  had  they 
reached  the  shore  when  a  venerable  old  man  appeared, 
and  a  woman  carrying  a  bag  in  which  was  a  clay  pot219 
filled  with  cornmeal  porridge.  More  than  two  hundred 

218  The  location  of  this  Mascouten  village  is  uncertain.     There  have  been 
numerous   attempts  to   identify  it,  the   proposed   sites   ranging  from   Corning, 
Columbia  County,  to  Rushford,  Winnebago  County;   but  the  majority  locate 
it  in  Green  Lake  County,  perhaps  the  most  probable  conjecture  being  at  or  near 
Berlin.     See  Jesuit  Relations,  vol.  liv;  Amer.  Cath.  Hist.  Researches,  vol.  xii, 
31-34,  76-80,  and  vol.  xiv,  98-100;  and  Wis.  Hist.  Colls.,  vol.  xvi,  42.  —  ED. 

219  "Many  of  the  more  cultured  American  tribes  were  skilful  potters.     .     . 
Within  the  area  of  the  United  States  the  art  had  made  very  considerable  advance 
in  two  cultured  centers  — the   Pueblo  region  of  the  southwest  and   the  great 
mound   province   of   the   Mississippi   Valley   and    the   Gulf  States.     Over   the 
remainder  of  North  America,  north  of  Mexico,  the  potter's  art  was  limited  to 
the  making  of  rude  utensils  or  was  practically  unknown.     The  Pueblo  tribes 
of  New  Mexico  and  Arizona,  as  well  as  some  of  the  adjacent  tribes  to  lesser 
extent,  still  practise  the  art  in  its  aboriginal  form,  and  the  Cherokee  and  Catawba 
of  North  and  South  Carolina  have  not  yet  ceased  to  manufacture  utensils  of 
clay,  although  the  shapes  have  been  much  modified  by  contact  with  the  whites. 
The  Choctaw  of  Mississippi  and  the  Mandan  of  the  middle  Missouri  valley 
have  but  recently  abandoned  the  art."     Pottery  is  an  art  not  available  among 
nomads,  and  needs  the  sedentary  life  for  its  development.     "The  introduction 
or  rise  of  the  potter's  art  among  primitive  peoples  is  believed  to  correspond 
somewhat  closely  with  the  initial  stages  of  barbarism;  but  this  idea  must  be 
liberally  interpreted,   as  some  tribes  well  advanced  toward  higher  barbarism 
are  without  it.     The  clay  used  was  mixed  with  various  tempering  ingredients, 
such  as  sand  or  pulverized  stone,  potsherds,   and  shells;  the  shapes  were  ex- 
tremely varied  and  generally  were  worked  out  by  the  hand,  aided  by  simple 
modeling  tools.     The  building  of  the  vessel,  the  principal  product  of  the  potter's 
art,  varied  with  the  different  tribes.     Usually  a  bit  of  the  clay  was  shaped 
into  a  disk  for  the  base,  and  the  walls  were  carried  up  by  adding  strips  of 
clay  until  the  rim  was  reached.     When  the  strips  were  long  they  were  carried 
around  as  a  spiral  coil.     As  the  height  increased  the  clay  was  allowed  to  set 
sufficiently  to  support  the  added  weight.    .    .    As  a  rule,  the  baking  was  done  in 
open  or  smothered  fires  or  in  extremely  crude  furnaces,  and  the  paste  remained 
comparatively  soft.     In  Central  America  a  variety  of  ware  was  made  with 
hard  paste  somewhat  resembling  our  stoneware.     Notwithstanding  the  remark- 


324  LA  POTHERIE  [Vol. 

stout  young  men  came  upon  the  scene;  their  hair  was 
adorned  with  headdresses  of  various  sorts,  and  their 

able  aptness  of  the  Americans  in  this  art,  and  their  great  skill  in  modeling, 
they  had  not  achieved  the  wheel,  nor  had  they  fully  mastered  the  art  of 
glazing.  .  .  Women  were  the  potters,  and  the  product  consisted  mainly 
of  vessels  for  household  use,  although  the  most  cultured  tribes  made  and  deco- 
rated vases  for  exclusively  ceremonial  purposes.  In  some  communities  a  wide 
range  of  articles  was  made,  the  plastic  nature  of  the  material  having  led  to 
the  shaping  of  many  fanciful  forms.  .  .  The  ornamentation  of  vases  included 
the  modeling  of  various  life  forms  in  the  round  and  in  relief,  and  incising, 
imprinting,  and  stamping  designs  of  many  kinds  in  the  soft  clay.  The  more 
advanced  potters  employed  color  in  surface  finish  and  in  executing  various  de- 
signs. The  designs  were  often  geometric  and  primitive  in  type,  but  in  many 
sections  life  forms  were  introduced  in  great  variety  and  profusion,  and  these 
were  no  doubt  often  symbolic,  having  definite  relation  to  the  use  of  the  object, 
ceremonial  or  otherwise.  Unbroken  examples  of  earthenware  are  preserved 
mainly  through  burial  with  the  dead,  and  the  numerous  specimens  in  our 
collections  were  obtained  mostly  from  burial  places.  On  inhabited  sites  the 
vessels  are  usually  broken,  but  even  in  this  form  they  are  of  great  value  to 
the  archeologist  for  the  reason  that  they  contain  markings  or  other  features 
peculiar  to  the  tribes  concerned  in  their  manufacture.  .  .  The  tribes  of  the 
plains  did  not  practise  the  art  save  in  its  simplest  forms,  but  the  ancient 
tribes  of  the  middle  and  lower  Mississippi  Valley  and  the  Gulf  states  were 
excellent  potters.  The  forms  of  the  vessels  and  the  styles  of  decoration  are 
exceedingly  varied,  and  indicate  a  remarkable  predilection  for  the  modeling 
of  life  forms  — men,  beasts,  birds,  and  fishes;  and  the  grotesque  was  much 
affected.  Aside  from  plastic  embellishment,  the  vases  were  decorated  in  color, 
and  more  especially  in  incised  and  stamped  designs,  those  on  the  Gulf  coast 
presenting  slight  suggestions  of  the  influence  of  the  semi-civilized  cultures  of 
Yucatan,  Mexico,  and  the  West  Indies.  The  pottery  of  the  tribes  of  the  north  i 
Atlantic  states  and  Canada  consists  mainly  of  simple  culinary  utensils,  mostly 
round  or  conical  bodied  bowls  and  pots  decorated  with  angular  incised  lines  and 
textile  imprintings.  The  best  examples  are  recovered  from  burial  places  in 
central-southern  New  York  and  northern  Pennsylvania  —  the  region  occupied 
from  the  earliest  times  by  the  Iroquois.  The  clay  tobacco  pipes  of  this  section 
are  unusually  interesting,  and  display  decided  skill  in  modeling,  although  this 
work  has  been  influenced  to  some  extent  by  the  presence  of  the  whites  (Holmes). 
The  practical  absence  of  pottery  in  the  Pacific  states  and  British  Columbia  is 
noteworthy.  .  .  The  early  and  very  general  use  of  basketry  and  of  stone 
vessels  in  this  region  may  have  operated  to  retard  the  development  of  the  pot- 
ter's art.  North  of  the  Canadian  boundary  conditions  were  not  favorable  to 
the  development  of  this  art,  although  specimens  of  rude  earthenware  are  ob- 
tained from  mounds  and  other  sites"  in  certain  regions.  "The  pottery  of  eastern 
United  States  is  reviewed  at  considerable  length  in  the  2oth  Annual  Report 
(1903)  of  the  Bureau  of  American  Ethnology,  with  many  illustrations  and 
numerous  references  (Holmes)  ;  and  the  publications  of  Mr.  Clarence  B.  Moore 
on  his  explorations  in  the  Southern  States  contain  much  new  and  important 


one]  SAVAGE  ALLIES  OF  NEW  FRANCE  325 

bodies  were  covered  with  tattooing  in  black,  represent- 
ing many  kinds  of  figures ;  *  they  carried  arrows  and  war- 
clubs,  and  wore  girdles  and  leggings  of  braided  work. 
The  old  man  held  in  his  hand  a  calumet  of  red  stone, 
with  a  long  stick  at  the  end;  this  was  ornamented  in  its 

information,  with  many  illustrations.  The  varied  ware  of  the  Pueblo  country 
is  described  in  reports  of  the  Bureau  by  J.  and  M.  C.  Stevenson,  Gushing, 
Holmes,  and  Fewkes;  by  Hough  in  the  National  Museum  reports,  and  by 
Nordenskjold  in  his  work  on  the  Cliff  Dwellers  of  the  Mesa  Verde." 

—  W.  H.  HOLMES,  in  Handbook  Amer.  Indians. 

*  "Tattooing  is  a  form  of  picture-writing  more  widespread  than  any  other 
and  perhaps  more  commonly  practised.  Originating  in  very  ancient  times,  it 
persists  to-day  among  certain  classes  of  civilized  peoples.  Besides  the  perma- 
nent marking  of  the  body  by  means  of  coloring  matter  introduced  under  the 
skin,  tattooing  includes  scarification  and  body  painting.  Whether  the  practice 
of  tattoo  had  its  origin  in  a  desire  for  personal  adornment,  or,  as  concluded 
by  Spencer  and  others,  as  a  means  of  tribal  marks,  its  final  purposes  and  sig- 
nificance among  our  Indians  were  found  by  Mallery  to  be  various  and  to 
include  the  following:  tribal,  clan,  and  family  marks;  to  distinguish  between 
free  and  slave,  high  and  low ;  as  certificates  of  bravery  in  passing  prescribed 
ordeals  or  in  war;  as  religious  symbols;  as  a  therapeutic  remedy  or  a  prophy- 
lactic; as  a  certificate  of  marriage  in  the  case  of  women,  or  of  marriageable 
condition;  as  a  personal  mark,  in  distinction  to  a  tribal  mark;  as  a  charm;  to 
inspire  fear  in  an  enemy;  to  render  the  skin  impervious  to  weapons;  to  bring 
good  fortune;  and  as  the  design  of  a  secret  society."  — H.  W.  HENSHAW,  in 
Handbook  Amer.  Indians,  art  "Pictographs."  (For  full  and  detailed  descrip- 
tion of  this  custom  (with  illustrations),  see  Garrick  Mallery's  papers  on 
picture-writing  in  the  fourth  and  tenth  Reports  of  the  Bureau  of  Ethnology.) 

"Vases  have  been  found  in  the  mounds  of  the  middle  Mississippi  Valley 
showing  the  human  face  with  tattoo  marks,  some  of  the  designs  combining 
geometric  and  totemic  figures.  As  tattooing  gave  a  permanent  line,  it  served 
a  different  purpose  from  decoration  by  paint.  Among  men  it  marked  personal 
achievement,  some  special  office,  symbolized  a  vision  from  the  supernatural 
powers,  or  served  some  practical  purpose  [as  sometimes  a  mark  on  the  arm 
for  the  purpose  of  measuring].  Among  women  the  tattooing  was  more  social 
in  its  significance,"  and  the  designs  used  therein  are  closely  connected  with 
those  employed  in  pottery  and  basket-work.  "The  Chippewa  sometimes  re- 
sorted to  tattooing  as  a  means  of  curing  pain,  as  the  toothache.  The  process 
of  tattooing  was  always  attended  with  more  or  less  ceremony;  chants  or  songs 
frequently  accompanied  the  actual  work,  and  many  superstitions  were  attached 
to  the  manner  in  which  the  one  operated  upon  bore  the  pain  or  made  recovery. 
Most  tribes  had  one  or  more  persons  expert  in  the  art  who  received  large  fees 
for  their  services."  Among  the  Plains  tribes  steel  needles  were  used ;  before 
these  were  introduced,  sharp  flints  served  the  purpose.  "The  dyes  injected 
to  give  color  to  the  design  varied  in  different  parts  of  the  country." 

-.ALICE  C.  FLETCHER,  in  Handbook  Amer.  Indians. 


326  LA  POTHERIE  [Vol. 

whole  length  with  the  heads  of  birds,  flame-colored,  and 
had  in  the  middle  a  bunch  of  feathers  colored  a  bright 
red,  which  resembled  a  great  fan.  As  soon  as  he  espied 
the  leader  of  the  Frenchmen,  he  presented  to  him  the 
calumet,  on  the  side  next  to  the  sun ;  and  uttered  words 
which  were  apparently  addressed  to  all  the  spirits  whom 
those  peoples  adore.  The  old  man  held  it  sometimes  to- 
ward the  east,  and  sometimes  toward  the  west;  then  to- 
ward the  sun ;  now  he  would  stick  the  end  in  the  ground, 
and  then  he  would  turn  the  calumet  around  him,  looking 
at  it  as  if  he  were  trying  to  point  out  the  whole  earth, 
with  expressions  which  gave  the  Frenchman  to  under- 
stand that  he  had  compassion  on  all  men.  Then  he 
rubbed  with  his  hands  Perot's  head,  back,  legs,  and  feet, 
and  sometimes  his  own  body.  This  welcome  lasted  a 
long  time,  during  which  the  old  man  made  a  harangue, 
after  the  fashion  of  a  prayer,  all  to  assure  the  Frenchman 
of  the  joy  which  all  in  the  village  felt  at  his  arrival. 

One  of  the  men  spread  upon  the  grass  a  large  painted 
ox-skin,  the  hair  on  which  was  as  soft  as  silk,  on  which 
he  and  his  comrade  were  made  to  sit.  The  old  man 
struck  two  pieces  of  wood  together,  to  obtain  fire  from 
it;  but  as  it  was  wet  he  could  not  light  it.  The  French- 
man drew  forth  his  own  fire-steel,  and  immediately 
made  fire  with  tinder.  The  old  man  uttered  loud  ex- 
clamations about  the  iron,  which  seemed  to  him  a  spirit; 
the  calumet  was  lighted,  and  each  man  smoked;  then 
they  must  eat  porridge  and  dried  meat,  and  suck  the 
juice  of  the  green  corn.  Again  the  calumet  was  filled, 
and  those  who  smoked  blew  the  tobacco-smoke  into  the 
Frenchman's  face,  as  the  greatest  honor  that  they  could 
render  him;  he  saw  himself  smoked  \boucaner}  like 
meat,  but  said  not  a  word.  This  ceremony  ended,  a 
skin  was  spread  for  the  Frenchman's  comrade.  The 


one]  SAVAGE  ALLIES  OF  NEW  FRANCE  327 

savages  thought  that  it  was  their  duty  to  carry  the 
French  guests ;  but  the  latter  informed  the  Maskoutechs 
that,  as  they  could  shape  the  iron,  they  had  strength  to 
walk,  so  they  were  left  at  liberty.  On  the  way,  they 
rested  again,  and  the  same  honors  were  paid  to  him  as 
at  the  first  meeting.  Continuing  their  route,  they  halted 
near  a  high  hill,  at  the  summit  of  which  was  the  village ; 
they  made  their  fourth  halt  here,  and  the  ceremonies 
were  repeated.  The  great  chief  of  the  Miamis  came  to 
meet  them,  at  the  head  of  more  than  three  thousand 
men,  accompanied  by  the  chiefs  of  other  tribes  who 
formed  part  of  the  village.  Each  of  these  chiefs  had  a 
calumet,  as  handsome  as  that  of  the  old  man ;  they  were 
entirely  naked,  wearing  only  shoes,  which  were  artisti- 
cally embroidered  like  buskins;220  they  sang,  as  they 
approached,  the  calumet  song,  which  they  uttered  in 

220  Probably  this  was  the  embroidery  with  porcupine  quills  which  formerly 
was  so  much  in  vogue  among  the  northern  Indians;  an  important  reason  for 
its  decline  is  the  fact  that  the  porcupine  (Erethizon  dorsatus)  has  been  almost 
exterminated  in  many  regions.  —  ED. 

Among  the  arts  practiced  by  Indian  women  was  that  of  embroidery  worked 
with  quills,  usually  those  of  the  porcupine,  sometimes  those  of  bird  feathers; 
"in  both  cases  the  stiffness  of  the  quill  limits  freedom  of  design,  making 
necessary  straight  lines  and  angular  figures.  The  gathering  of  the  raw  ma- 
terials, the  hunting  of  porcupines  or  the  capture  of  birds,  was  the  task  of  the 
men,  who  also  in  some  tribes  prepared  the  dyes.  Sorting  and  coloring  the  quills, 
tracing  the  design  on  dressed  skin  or  birchbark,  and  the  embroidering  were 
exclusively  the  work  of  women."  The  dyes,  which  varied  in  different  parts 
of  the  country,  were  compounded  variously  of  roots,  whole  plants,  and  buds 
and  bark  of  trees.  The  quills  were  usually  steeped  in  concoctions  of  these 
until  a  uniform  color  was  obtained  —  red,  yellow,  green,  blue,  or  black."  The 
porcupine  quills  were  always  flattened  for  this  work,  by  pressing  the  edge 
between  the  forefinger  and  thumb-nail.  The  designs  were  drawn  or  painted 
on  the  skin  or  bark  by  means  of  a  sort  of  stencil  pattern,  drawn  on  skin,  bark, 
or  paper,  and  cut  through  to  form  the  stencil.  "A  woman  who  was  skilled 
or  had  a  natural  gift  for  drawing  would  copy  a  design  by  the  freehand 
method,  except  that  she  had  first  made  some  measurements  in  order  that  the 
pattern  should  be  in  its  proper  place  and  proportions.  Some  even  composed 
designs,  both  the  forms  and  the  arrangement  of  colors,  and  worked  them  out  as 
they  embroidered.  Among  most  tribes  the  awl  was  the  only  instrument  used 
in  quill-working;  but  the  Cheyenne,  Arapaho,  and  Sioux,  the  principal  quill- 


328  LA  POTHERIE  [Vol. 

cadence.  When  they  reached  the  Frenchmen,  they  con- 
tinued their  songs,  meanwhile  bending  their  knees,  in 
turn,  almost  to  the  ground.  They  presented  the  calu- 

working  tribes,  had  a  specially  shaped  bone  for  flattening,  bending,  and 
smoothing."  —  JAMES  MOONEY. 

"All  designs  in  qutllwork  were  made  up  of  wide  or  narrow  lines,  each  com- 
posed of  a  series  of  upright  stitches  lying  close  together.  .  .  The  stems 
of  pipes  were  decorated  with  fine  flattened  quills,  closely  woven  into  a  long 
and  very  narrow  braid,  which  was  wound  about  the  wooden  stem.  Different 
colors  were  sometimes  so  disposed  along  the  length  of  these  braids  that  when 
they  were  wound  around  the  stem  they  made  squares  or  other  figures.  .  . 
Porcupine  quills  were  employed  for  embroidery  from  Maine  to  Virginia  and 
west  to  the  Rocky  Mountains  north  of  the  Arkansas  River.  "Quills  seem 
to  have  been  an  article  of  barter;  hence  their  use  was  not  confined  to  regions 
where  the  animal  abounded.  This  style  of  decoration  was  generally  put  on 
tobacco  and  tinder  bags,  workbags,  knife  and  paint-stick  cases,  cradles,  amu- 
lets, the  bands  of  burden  straps,  tunics,  shirts,  leggings,  belts,  arm  and  leg 
bands,  moccasins,  robes,  and  sometimes  on  the  trappings  of  horses.  All  such 
objects  were  of  dressed  skin.  Receptacles  and  other  articles  made  of  birch 
bark  also  were  frequently  embroidered  with  quills.  Nearly  every  tribe  has  its 
peculiar  cut  for  moccasins,  often  also  its  special  style  of  ornamentation,  and 
these  were  carefully  observed  by  the  workers.  The  dress  of  the  men  was  more 
ornate  than  that  of  the  women,  and  the  decorations  the  women  put  on  the 
former  were  generally  related  to  man's  employments  —  hunting  and  war.  The 
figures  were  frequently  designed  by  the  men,  and  a  man  very  often  designated 
what  particular  figure  he  desired  a  woman  to  embroider  on  his  garment. 
Some  designs  belonged  exclusively  to  women;  there  were,  moreover,  some  that 
were  common  to  both  sexes.  The  decorative  figures  worked  on  the  garments 
of  children  not  infrequently  expressed  a  prayer  for  safety,  long  life,  and 
prosperity,  and  usually  were  symbolic.  There  was  considerable  borrowing 
of  designs  by  the  women  through  the  medium  of  gifts  exchanged  between 
tribes  during  ceremonial  observances  or  visits,  and  thus  figures  that  were 
sacred  symbols  in  some  tribes  came  to  be  used  merely  as  ornaments  by  others. 
Some  of  the  designs  in  quillwork  were  undoubtedly  originated  by  men,  while 
others  were  invented  by  women.  These  were  frequently  credited  to  dreams 
sent  by  the  spider,  who,  according  to  certain  tribal  mythic  traditions,  was  the 
instructor  of  women  in  the  art  of  embroidery.  Technical  skill  as  well  as 
unlimited  patience  was  required  to  make  even,  smooth,  and  fine  porcupine  quill- 
work,  and  proficiency  could  be  acquired  only  by  practice  and  nice  attention  to 
details.  The  art  seems  to  have  reached  its  highest  development  among  those 
tribes  where  the  food  supply  was  abundant  and  the  men  were  the  principal 
providers  —  conditions  that  made  it  possible  for  the  women  to  have  the  leisure 
necessary  for  them  to  become  adept  in  the  working  of  quills.  This  art,  which 
formerly  flourished  over  a  wide  area,  is  rapidly  dying  out.  It  is  doubtful 
whether  any  woman  at  the  present  day  could  duplicate  the  fine  embroidery  of 
a  hundred  years  ago."  — ALICE  C.  FLETCHER,  in  Handbook  Amer.  Indians. 


one]  SAVAGE  ALLIES  OF  NEW  FRANCE  329 

met  to  the  sun,  with  the  same  genuflexions,  and  then  they 
came  back  to  the  principal  Frenchman,  with  many  ges- 
ticulations. Some  played  upon  instruments  the  calumet 
songs,  and  others  sang  them,  holding  the  calumet  in  the 
mouth  without  lighting  it.  A  war  chief  raised  Perot 
upon  his  shoulders,  and,  accompanied  by  all  the  musi- 
cians, conducted  him  to  the  village.  The  Maskoutech 
who  had  been  his  guide  offered  him  to  the  Miamis,  to 
be  lodged  among  them;  they  very  amiably  declined, 
being  unwilling  to  deprive  the  Maskoutechs  of  the 
pleasure  of  possessing  a  Frenchman  who  had  consented 
to  come  under  their  auspices.  At  last  he  was  taken  to 
the  cabin  of  the  chief  of  the  Maskoutechs;221  as  he  en- 

221  Mascoutens  (meaning  "little  prairie  people")  is  "a  term  used  by  some 
early  writers  in  a  collective  and  indefinite  sense  to  designate  the  Algonquian 
tribes  living  on  the  prairies  of  Wisconsin  and  Illinois  .  .  .  the  name 
(Maskko'tens]  is  at  present  applied  by  the  Potawatomi  to  that  part  of  the  tribe 
officially  known  as  the  'Prairie  band'  and  formerly  residing  on  the  prairies  of 
northern  Illinois."  According  to  Ottawa  tradition  there  was  in  early  days  a 
tribe  called  Mushkodainsug  (or  Mascoutens)  on  the  east  shore  of  Lake  Michi- 
gan, who  were  driven  by  enemies  farther  southward,  together  with  an  allied 
tribe  who  are  thought  to  have  been  the  Sauk  (to  whom  the  Mascoutens  were 
evidently  closely  related)  ;  and  these  are  supposed  to  have  entered  Wisconsin 
together,  passing  around  the  southern  end  of  Lake  Michigan.  Perrot  was 
the  first  Frenchman  to  visit  them;  he  was  followed  by  Allouez  (1670)  and 
Marquerte  (1673),  who  both  found  them  in  this  same  village  on  the  Fox 
River,  living  with  the  Miami  and  Kickapoo.  In  1680  the  Mascoutens  are 
mentioned  as  living  on  Lake  Winnebago  and  the  Milwaukee  River  (probably 
two  different  bands  who  had  wandered  thither).  In  1712  the  upper  Mascou- 
tens and  the  Kickapoo  joined  the  Foxes  against  the  French;  but  at  the  siege 
of  Detroit  in  the  same  year  these  tribes  were  attacked  by  other  Indians,  allies 
of  the  French,  and  nearly  a  thousand  of  them  were  killed  or  captured.  "In 
1718  the  Mascoutens  and  Kickapoo  were  living  together  in  a  single  village 
on  Rock  River,  111.,  and  were  estimated  together  at  200  men.  In  1736  the 
Mascoutens  are  mentioned  as  numbering  60  warriors,  living  with  the  Kickapoo 
on  Fox  River,  Wis.,  and  having  the  wolf  and  deer  totems.  These  are  among 
the  existing  gentes  of  the  Sauk  and  Foxes.  They  were  last  mentioned  as 
living  in  Wisconsin  between  1770  and  1780;  and  the  last  definite  notice  of  them 
mentions  those  on  the  Wabash  in  connection  with  the  Piankashaw  and  Kicka- 
poo. "After  this  the  Mascoutens  disappear  from  history,  the  northern  group 
having  probably  been  absorbed  by  the  Sauk  and  Fox  confederacy,  and  the 
southern  group  by  the  Kickapoo.  Notwithstanding  some  commendatory  ex- 


330  LA  POTHERIE  [Vol. 

tered,  the  lighted  calumet  was  presented  to  him,  which 
he  smoked ;  and  fifty  guardsmen  were  provided  for  him, 
who  prevented  the  crowd  from  annoying  him.  A  grand 
repast  was  served,  the  various  courses  of  which  reminded 
one  of  feeding-troughs  rather  than  dishes ;  the  food  was 
seasoned  with  the  fat  of  the  wild  ox.  The  guards  took 
good  care  that  provisions  should  be  brought  often,  for 
they  profited  thereby. 

On  the  next  day,  the  Frenchman  gave  them,  as  pres- 
ents, a  gun  and  a  kettle ;  and  made  them  the  following 
speech,  which  was  suited  to  their  character:  "Men,  I 
admire  your  youths;  although  they  have  since  their 
birth  seen  only  shadows,  they  seem  to  me  as  fine-looking 
as  those  who  are  born  in  regions  where  the  sun  always 
displays  his  glory.  I  would  not  have  believed  that  the 
earth,  the  mother  of  all  men,  could  have  furnished  you 
the  means  of  subsistence  when  you  did  not  possess  the 
light  of  the  Frenchman,  who  supplies  its  influences  to 
many  peoples;  I  believe  that  you  will  become  another 
nation  when  you  become  acquainted  with  him.  I  am 
the  dawn  of  that  light,  which  is  beginning  to  appear  in 
your  lands,  as  it  were,  that  which  precedes  the  sun,  who 
will  soon  shine  brightly  and  will  cause  you  to  be  born 
again,  as  if  in  another  land,  where  you  will  find,  more 
easily  and  in  greater  abundance,  all  that  can  be  necessary 
to  man.  I  see  this  fine  village  filled  with  young  men, 
who  are,  I  am  sure,  as  courageous  as  they  are  well  built; 
and  who  will,  without  doubt,  not  fear  their  enemies  if 
they  carry  French  weapons.  It  is  for  these  young  men 
that  I  leave  my  gun,  which  they  must  regard  as  the 
pledge  of  my  esteem  for  their  valor;  they  must  use  it 

pressions  by  one  or  two  of  the  early  missionaries,  the  Mascoutens,  like  the 
Kickapoo,  bore  a  reputation  for  treachery  and  deceit,  but,  like  the  Foxes,  appear 
to  have  been  warlike  and  restless."  —  JAMES  MOONEY  and  CYRUS  THOMAS,  in 
Handbook  Amer.  Indians. 


one]  SAVAGE  ALLIES  OF  NEW  FRANCE  331 

if  they  are  attacked.  It  will  also  be  more  satisfactory  in 
hunting  cattle  and  other  animals  than  are  all  the  arrows 
that  you  use.  To  you  who  are  old  men  I  leave  my  kettle ; 
I  carry  it  everywhere  without  fear  of  breaking  it.  You 
will  cook  in  it  the  meat  that  your  young  men  bring  from 
the  chase,  and  the  food  which  you  offer  to  the  French- 
men who  come  to  visit  you."  He  tossed  a  dozen  awls 
and  knives  to  the  women,  and  said  to  them:  "Throw 
aside  your  bone  bodkins;  these  French  awls  will  be 
much  easier  to  use.  These  knives  will  be  more  useful  to 
you  in  killing  beavers  and  in  cutting  your  meat  than  are 
the  pieces  of  stone  that  you  use."  Then,  throwing  to 
them  some  rassade:222  "See;  these  will  better  adorn 
your  children  and  girls  than  do  their  usual  ornaments." 

222  Rassade  was  a  French  term  for  beads  of  the  round  sort;  they  were  made 
of  porcelain  and  of  glass,  both  white  and  in  various  colors.  The  long  tubular 
beads  were  known  as  canons.  —  ED. 

Beads,  of  many  kinds  and  materials,  formed  a  valued  class  of  ornaments 
among  the  Indians.  "All  were  made  from  mineral,  vegetal,  or  animal  sub- 
stances; and  after  the  discovery  the  introduction  of  beads  of  glass  or  porcelain, 
as  well  as  that  of  metal  tools  for  making  the  old  varieties,  greatly  multiplied 
their  employment."  They  were  of  many  sizes  and  shapes  — round,  tubular,  or 
flat;  and  some  of  the  cylinders  were  several  inches  long.  Seeds,  nuts,  and 
sections  of  stems  and  roots  were  used  as  beads;  but  "far  the  largest  share  of 
beads  were  made  from  animal  materials  — shell,  bone,  horn,  teeth,  claws,  and 
ivory."  In  their  manufacture  much  taste  and  manual  skill  were  developed. 
They  were  used  for  personal  adornment  in  many  forms  and  combinations, 
and  formed  a  prominent  feature  in  the  embellishment  of  ceremonial  costumes ; 
and  were  "attached  to  bark  and  wooden  vessels,  matting,  basketry,  and  other 
textiles.  They  were  woven  into  fabrics  or  wrought  into  network.  .  .  They 
were  also  largely  employed  as  gifts  and  as  money,  also  as  tokens  and  in  records 
of  hunts  or  of  important  events,  such  as  treaties.  They  were  conspicuous 
accessories  in  the  councils  of  war  and  peace,  in  the  conventional  expression  of 
tribal  symbolism,  and  in  traditional  story-telling,  and  were  offered  in  worship. 
They  were  regarded  as  insignia  of  functions,  and  were  buried,  often  in  vast 
quantities,  with  the  dead."  In  the  eastern  part  of  Canada  and  the  United 
States  beads  were  largely  made  from  shells.  "In  the  north  small  white  and 
purple  cylinders,  called  wampum,  served  for  ornament  and  were  used  in 
elaborate  treat}'  belts  and  as  a  money  standard,  also  flat  disks  an  inch  or  more 
in  width  being  bored  through  their  long  diameters.  The  Cherokee  name  for 
beads  and  money  is  the  same.  Subsequently  imitated  by  the  colonists,  these 
beads  received  a  fixed  value.  The  mound-builders  and  other  tribes  of  the 


332  LA  POTHERIE  [Vol. 

The  Miamis  said,  by  way  of  excuse  for  not  having  any 
beaver-skins,  that  they  had  until  then  roasted  those  ani- 
mals. 

That  alliance  began,  therefore,  through  the  agency  of 
Sieur  Perot.  A  week  later  the  savages  made  a  solemn 
feast,  to  thank  the  sun  for  having  conducted  him  to  their 
village.  In  the  cabin  of  the  great  chief  of  the  Miamis 
an  altar  had  been  erected,  on  which  he  had  caused  to  be 
placed  a  Pindiikosan.  This  is  a  warrior's  pouch,  rilled 
with  medicinal  herbs  wrapped  in  the  skins  of  animals, 
the  rarest  that  they  can  find;  it  usually  contains  all  that 
inspires  their  dreams.  Perot,  who  did  not  approve  this 
altar,  told  the  great  chief  that  he  adored  a  God  who  for- 
bade him  to  eat  things  sacrificed  to  evil  spirits  or  to  the 
skins  of  animals.  They  were  greatly  surprised  at  this, 
and  asked  if  he  would  eat  provided  they  shut  up  their 
Manitous;  this  he  consented  to  do.  The  chief  begged 
Perot  to  consecrate  him  to  his  Spirit,  whom  he  would 
thenceforth  acknowledge;  he  said  that  he  would  prefer 
that  Spirit  to  his  own,  who  had  not  taught  them  to 
make  hatchets,  kettles,  and  all  else  that  men  need;  and 
he  hoped  that  by  adoring  him  they  would  obtain  all  the 
knowledge  that  the  French  had.  This  chief  governed 
his  people  as  a  sort  of  sovereign ;  he  had  his  guards,  and 
whatever  he  said  or  ordered  was  regarded  as  law. 

Mississippi  Valley  and  the  Gulf  States  used  pearls,  and  beads  of  shells,  seeds, 
and  rolled  copper.  Canine  teeth  of  the  elk  were  most  highly  esteemed, 
recently  being  worth  fifty  cents  to  one  dollar  each.  They  were  carefully  saved, 
and  a  garment  covered  with  them  was  valued  at  as  much  as  six  hundred  or 
eight  hundred  dollars.  .  .  After  the  colonization  cradles  and  articles  of 
skin  were  profusely  covered  with  beadwork  replete  with  symbolism." 

—  Ons  T.  MASON,  in  Handbook  Amer.  Indians. 

"The  true  needle  with  an  eye  was  extremely  rare  among  the  Indians,  the 
awl  being  the  universal  implement  for  sewing.  The  needle  and  needle-case 
came  to  be  generally  employed  only  after  the  advent  of  the  whites,  although 
bone  needles  three  to  five  inches  long  are  common  in  Ontario  and  the  Iroquois 
area  of  New  York."  —  WALTER  HOUGH,  in  Handbook  Amer.  Indians. 


one]  SAVAGE  ALLIES  OF  NEW  FRANCE  333 

The  Pouteouatemis,  jealous  that  the  French  had  found 
the  way  to  the  Miamis,  secretly  sent  a  slave  to  the  latter, 
who  said  many  unkind  things  about  the  French ;  he  said 
that  the  Pouteouatemis  held  them  in  the  utmost  con- 
tempt, and  regarded  them  as  dogs.  The  French,  who 
had  heard  all  these  abusive  remarks,  put  him  into  a 
condition  where  he  could  say  no  more  outrageous  things ; 
the  Miamis  regarded  the  spectacle  with  great  tranquil- 
lity. When  it  was  time  to  return  to  the  bay,  the  chiefs 
sent  all  their  young  men  to  escort  the  Frenchmen  thither, 
and  made  them  many  presents.  The  Pouteouatemis, 
having  learned  of  the  Frenchman's  arrival,  came  to 
assure  him  of  the  interest  they  felt  in  his  safe  return,  and 
were  very  impatient  to  know  whether  the  tribes  from 
whom  he  had  come  had  treated  him  well.  But  when 
they  heard  the  reproaches  which  he  uttered  for  their 
sending  a  slave  who  had  said  most  ungenerous  things 
regarding  the  French  nation,  they  attempted  to  make 
an  explanation  of  their  conduct,  but  fully  justified  the 
poor  opinion  which  he  already  had  of  them.  The  sav- 
ages have  this  characteristic,  that  they  find  a  way  to 
free  themselves  from  blame  in  any  evil  undertaking,  or 
to  make  it  succeed  without  seeming  to  have  taken  part 
in  it. 

Chapter  X 

It  was  for  the  interest  of  the  Pouteouatemis  to  keep  on 
good  terms  with  the  French ;  and  they  had  been  too  well 
received  at  Montreal  not  to  return  thither.-  Indeed, 
after  having  presented  to  Perot  a  bag  of  Indian  corn, 
that  he  might,  they  said,  "eat  and  swallow  the  suspicion 
that  he  felt  toward  them,"  and  five  beaver  robes  to  serve 
as  an  emetic  for  the  ill-will  and  vengeance  which  he 
might  retain  in  his  heart,  they  sent  some  of  their  people 


334  LA  POTHERIE  [Vol. 

on  a  journey  to  Montreal.  When  they  came  in  sight  of 
Michilimakinak,  which  then  was  frequented  only  by 
them  and  the  Iroquois,  they  perceived  smoke.  While 
they  were  trying  to  ascertain  what  this  meant,  they  en- 
countered two  Iroquois,  and  saw  another  canoe  off 
shore.  Each  party  was  alarmed  at  the  other;  as  for  the 
Iroquois,  they  took  to  flight,  while  the  Pouteouatemis, 
plying  their  paddles  against  contrary  winds,  fled  to  their 
own  village;  they  felt  an  extraordinary  anxiety,  for  they 
knew  not  what  measures  to  take  for  protection  against 
the  Iroquois.  All  the  peoples  of  the  bay  experienced 
the  same  perplexity.  Their  terror  was  greatly  increased 
when,  a  fortnight  later,  they  saw  large  fires  on  the  other 
shore  of  the  bay,  and  heard  many  gun-shots.  As  a  cli- 
max to  their  fears,  the  scouts  whom  they  had  sent  out 
brought  back  the  news  that  they  had  seen  at  night  many 
canoes  made  in  Iroquois  fashion,  in  one  of  which  was  a 
gun,  and  a  blanket  of  Iroquois  material;  and  some  men, 
who  were  sleeping  by  a  fire.  All  those  canoes  came  in 
sight  the  next  morning,  and  each  one  fled,  at  the  top  of 
his  speed,  into  the  forest;  only  the  most  courageous  took 
the  risk  of  awaiting,  with  resolute  air,  the  Iroquois  in 
their  fort,  where  they  had  good  firearms.  As  we  were 
at  peace  with  the  Iroquois,  some  of  the  bolder  spirits 
among  our  Frenchmen  offered  to  go  to  meet  that  so- 
called  army,  in  order  to  learn  the  motive  which  could 
have  impelled  them  to  come  to  wage  war  against  the 
allies  of  Onontio.  They  were  greatly  surprised  to  find 
that  it  was  a  fleet  of  Outaouaks,  who  had  come  to  trade ; 
these  people  had,  while  traveling  across  the  country, 
built  some  canoes  which  resembled  those  of  the  Iroquois. 
The  men  whom  the  Pouteouatemis  had  seen  at  Michili- 
makinak were  really  Iroquois ;  but  they  had  feared  fall- 
ing into  the  hands  of  the  Pouteouatemis  quite  as  much 


one]  SAVAGE  ALLIES  OF  NEW  FRANCE  335 

as  the  latter  had  feared  them.  The  Iroquois,  while 
fleeing,  fell  into  an  ambuscade  of  forty  Sauteurs,  who 
carried  them  away  to  the  Sauteur  village;  they  had  come 
from  a  raid  against  the  Chaouanons223  near  Carolina, 

223  The  French  form  of  Shawnee  (an  Algonkin  name  meaning  "south- 
erners"), "formerly  a  leading  tribe  of  South  Carolina,  Tennessee,  Pennsyl- 
vania, and  Ohio.  By  reason  of  the  indefinite  character  of  their  name,  their 
wandering  habits,  their  connection  with  other  tribes,  and  because  of  their 
interior  position  away  from  the  traveled  routes  of  early  days,  the  Shawnee 
were  long  a  stumbling  block  in  the  way  of  investigators.  .  .  The  tradition 
of  the  Delawares,  as  embodied  in  the  Walum  Olum,  makes  themselves,  the 
Shawnee,  and  the  Nanticoke,  originally  one  people,  the  separation  having 
taken  place  after  the  traditional  expulsion  of  the  Talligewi  (Cherokee)  from 
the  north,  it  being  stated  that  the  Shawnee  went  south.  The  close  similarity 
of  dialect  would  bear  out  the  statement  as  to  relationship.  Beyond  this  it  is 
useless  to  theorize  on  the  origin  of  the  Shawnee  or  to  strive  to  assign  them  any 
earlier  location  than  that  in  which  they  were  first  known  and  where  their 
oldest  traditions  place  them  — the  Cumberland  basin  in  Tennessee,  with  an 
outlying  colony  on  the  middle  Savannah  in  South  Carolina.  In  this  position, 
as  their  name  may  imply,  they  were  the  southern  advance-guard  of  the 
Algonquian  stock.  Their  real  history  begins  in  1669-1670.  They  were  then 
living  in  two  bodies  at  a  considerable  distance  apart,  and  these  two  divisions 
were  not  fully  united  until  nearly  a  century  later,  when  the  tribe  settled  in 
Ohio.  The  attempt  to  reconcile  conflicting  statements  without  a  knowledge  of 
this  fact  has  occasioned  much  of  the  confusion  in  regard  to  the  Shawnee.  The 
apparent  anomaly  of  a  tribe  living  in  two  divisions  at  such  a  distance  from 
each  other  is  explained  when  we  remember  that  the  intervening  territory  was 
occupied  by  the  Cherokee,  who  were  at  that  time  the  friends  of  the  Shawnee. 
The  evidence  afforded  by  the  mounds  shows  that  the  two  tribes  lived  together 
for  a  considerable  period,  both  in  South  Carolina  and  Tennessee,  and  it  is  a 
matter  of  history  that  the  Cherokee  claimed  the  country  vacated  by  the  Shawnee 
in  both  states  after  the  removal  of  the  latter  to  the  north.  .  .  The  Shawnee 
of  South  Carolina,  who  appear  to  have  been  the  Piqua  division  of  the  tribe, 
were  known  to  the  early  settlers  of  that  state  as  Savannahs,  that  being  nearly 
the  form  of  the  name  in  use  among  the  neighboring  Muskhogean  tribes."  The 
Shawnee  removed  to  the  north  apparently  through  dissatisfaction  with  the 
English  colonists,  who  were  allies  of  the  Catawba,  enemies  of  the  Shawnee; 
"their  removal  from  South  Carolina  was  gradual,  beginning  about  1677  and 
continuing  at  intervals  through  a  period  of  more  than  thirty  years.  .  .  Per- 
mission to  settle  on  the  Delaware  was  granted  by  the  colonial  government 
on  condition  of  their  making  peace  with  the  Iroquois,  who  then  received  them 
as  'brothers,'  while  the  Delawares  acknowledged  them  as  their  'second  sons,' 
i.e.,  grandsons.  The  Shawnee  to-day  refer  to  the  Delawares  as  their  grand- 
fathers. From  this  it  is  evident  that  the  Shawnee  were  never  conquered  by  the 
Iroquois,  and,  in  fact,  we  find  the  western  band  a  few  years  previously  assist- 
ing the  Miami  against  the  latter."  Some  of  the  migrating  Shawnee  joined 


336  LA  POTHERIE  [VoL 

and  had  brought  with  them  a  captive  from  that  tribe, 
whom  they  were  going  to  burn.  The  Sauteurs  set  him  at 
liberty,  and  enabled  him  to  return  to  the  bay  by  entrust- 
ing him  to  the  Sakis.  This  man  gave  them  marvelous 
notions  of  the  South  Sea,  from  which  his  village  was 
distant  only  five  days'  journey-  near  a  great  river  which, 
coming  from  the  Islinois,  discharges  its  waters  into  that 
sea.224  The  tribes  of  the  bay  sent  him  home  with  much 
merchandise,  urging  him  to  persuade  his  tribesmen  to 
come  and  visit  them. 

These  peoples  held  several  councils,  to  deliberate 
whether  they  should  go  down  to  Montreal;  they  hesi- 
tated at  first,  because  they  had  so  few  beavers.  As  the 
savages  give  everything  to  their  mouths,  they  preferred 

the  Mohican  and  became  a  part  of  that  tribe ;  and  those  who  had  settled  on  the 
Delaware  afterward  removed  to  the  Wyoming  Valley,  and  formed  their 
village  near  the  present  town  of  Wyoming.  The  Delawares  and  Munsee 
followed  them  in  1742,  and  made  their  village  on  the  opposite  bank  of  the 
Susquehanna;  about  fifteen  years  later  the  Shawnee  quarreled  with  the  Dela- 
wares, and  joined  their  tribesmen  on  the  upper  Ohio,  soon  becoming  allies  of 
the  French.  The  Cumberland  (or  western)  division  of  the  Shawnee  seem 
never  to  have  crossed  the  Alleghanies  to  the  eastward.  Their  principal 
village  was  on  the  Cumberland  River,  near  the  present  Nashville,  Tenn. 
"They  seem  also  to  have  ranged  northeastward  to  the  Kentucky  River,  and 
southward  to  the  Tennessee.  It  will  thus  be  seen  that  they  were  not  isolated 
from  the  great  body  of  the  Algonquian  tribes,  as  has  frequently  been  repre- 
sented to  have  been  the  case,  but  simply  occupied  an  interior  position,  adjoining 
the  kindred  Illinois  and  Miami,  with  whom  they  kept  up  constant  communi- 
cation. .  .  These  western  Shawnee  are  mentioned  about  the  year  1672  as 
being  harassed  by  the  Iroquois,  and  also  as  allies  of  the  Andastes,  or  Conestoga, 
who  were  themselves  at  war  with  the  Iroquois;"  and  the  two  tribes  were 
probably  allies  against  the  Iroquois.  It  is  in  1684  that  we  find  the  first  reliable 
mention  of  the  Shawnee  (evidently  the  western  bands)  in  the  country  north 
of  the  Ohio;  and  they  finally  abandoned  the  Cumberland  Valley  soon  after 
1714,  in  consequence  of  a  war  between  them  and  the  Cherokee  and  Chicka- 
saw  — finally  (about  1730)  collecting  along  the  north  bank  of  the  Ohio,  from 
the  Allegheny  to  the  Scioto.  Soon  after  1750  they  were  joined  by  their  kindred 
from  the  Susquehanna,  the  first  time  in  their  history  when  the  divisions  were 
united.  —  Handbook  Amer.  Indians. 

224  A  reference  to  the  Gulf  of  Mexico  and  the  Mississippi  River  —  then, 
however,  supposed  to  flow  into  the  Pacific  Ocean  (then  called  the  South 
Sea).- ED. 


one]  SAVAGE  ALLIES  OF  NEW  FRANCE  337 

to  devote  themselves  to  hunting  such  wild  beasts  as  could 
furnish  subsistence  for  their  families,  rather  than  seek 
beavers,  of  which  there  were  not  enough ;  they  preferred 
the  needs  of  life  to  those  of  the  state.  Nevertheless,  they 
reflected  that  if  they  allowed  the  Frenchmen  to  go  away 
without  themselves  going  down  to  trade,  it  might  hap- 
pen that  the  latter  would  thereafter  attach  themselves 
to  some  other  tribes;  or,  if  they  should  afterward  go  to 
Montreal,  the  governor  would  feel  resentment  against 
them  because  they  had  not  escorted  these  Frenchmen 
thither.  They  decided  that  they  would  go  with  the 
Frenchmen;  preparations  for  this  were  accordingly 
made,  and  a  solemn  feast  was  held;  and  on  the  eve  of 
their  departure  a  volley  of  musketry  was  fired  in  the 
village.  Three  men  sang  incessantly,  all  night  long,  in  a 
cabin,  invoking  their  spirits  from  time  to  time.  They 
began  with  the  song  of  Michabous;  then  they  came  to 
that  of  the  god  of  lakes,  rivers,  and  forests,  begging  the 
winds,  the  thunder,  the  storms,  and  the  tempests  to  be 
favorable  to  them  during  the  voyage.  The  next  day,  the 
crier  went  through  the  village,  inviting  the  men  to  the 
cabin  where  the  feast  was  to  be  prepared.  They  found 
no  difficulty  in  going  thither,  each  furnished  with  his 
Ouragan  and  Mikouen  ["his  dish  and  spoon" -La 
Potherie].  The  three  musicians  of  the  previous  night 
began  to  sing;  one  was  placed  at  the  entrance  of  the 
cabin,  another  in  the  middle,  and  the  third  at  its  end; 
they  were  armed  with  quivers,  bows,  and  arrows,  and 
their  faces  and  entire  bodies  were  blackened  with  coal. 
While  the  people  sat  in  this  assembly,  in  the  utmost 
quiet,  twenty  young  men -entirely  naked,  elaborately 
painted  \_matachez]  *  and  wearing  girdles  of  otter-skin, 

*  "The  tribes  north  of  Mexico,  as  well  as  those  of  every  part  of  the  conti- 
nent except,  perhaps,  the  higher  arctic  regions,  delighted  in  the  use  of  color. 
It  was  very  generally  employed  for  embellishing  the  person  and  in  applying 


338  LA  POTHERIE  [Vol. 

to  which  were  attached  the  skins  of  crows,  with  their 
plumage,  and  gourds -lifted  from  the  fires  ten  great 
kettles ;  then  the  singing  ceased.  The  first  of  these  actors 
next  sang  his  war-song,  keeping  time  with  it  in  a  dance 
from  one  end  to  the  other  of  the  cabin,  while  all  the 
savages  cried  in  deep  guttural  tones,  "Hay,  hay!"  When 
the  musician  ended,  all  the  others  uttered  a  loud  yell,  in 
which  their  voices  gradually  died  away,  much  as  a  loud 
noise  disappears  among  the  mountains.  Then  the  sec- 
ond and  the  third  musicians  repeated,  in  turn,  the  same 
performance ;  and,  in  a  word,  nearly  all  the  savages  did 
the  same,  in  alternation -each  singing  his  own  song,  but 
no  one  venturing  to  repeat  that  of  another,  unless  he 
were  willing  deliberately  to  offend  the  one  who  had 
composed  the  song,  or  unless  the  latter  were  dead  (in 
order  to  exalt,  as  it  were,  the  dead  man's  name  by  appro- 
priating his  song).  During  this,  their  looks  were  ac- 
companied with  gestures  and  violent  movements;  and 
some  of  them  took  hatchets,  with  which  they  pretended 
to  strike  the  women  and  children  who  were  watching 
them.  Some  took  firebrands,  which  they  tossed  about 
everywhere ;  others  filled  their  dishes  with  red-hot  coals, 
which  they  threw  at  each  other.  It  is  difficult  to  make 
the  reader  understand  the  details  of  feasts  of  this  sort, 
unless  he  has  himself  seen  them.  I  was  present  at  a  like 
entertainment  among  the  Iroquois  at  the  Sault  of  Mon- 

decorative  and  symbolic  designs  to  habitations,  sculptures,  masks,  shields, 
articles  of  bark,  skin,  pottery,  etc.,  in  executing  pictographs  upon  natural  sur- 
faces of  many  kinds,  as  on  cliffs  and  the  walls  of  caverns,  and  in  preparing 
the  symbolic  embellishments  of  altars  and  the  sacred  chambers.  Color  was 
applied  to  the  person  for  decorative  purposes  as  an  essential  feature  of  the 
toilet;  for  impressing  beholders  with  admiration  or  fear;  for  purposes  of  ob- 
scurity and  deception;  in  applying  tribal,  personal,  or  other  denotive  devices; 
in  the  application  of  symbolic  designs,  especially  on  ceremonial  occasions ;  and 
as  a  means  of  protection  from  insects  and  the  sun.  The  native  love  of  color 
and  skill  in  its  use  were  manifested  especially  in  decorative  work."  The 
pigments  were  both  mineral  and  vegetal,  and  the  aborigines  were  skilled  in 
preparing  them.  —  W.  H.  HOLMES,  in  Handbook  Amer.  Indians,  art.  "Painting." 


one]  SAVAGE  ALLIES  OF  NEW  FRANCE  339 

treal,  and  it  seemed  as  if  I  were  in  the  midst  of  hell. 
After  most  of  those  who  had  been  invited  to  this  pleas- 
ant festival  had  sung,  the  chief  of  the  feast,  who  had 
given  the  dance,  sang  a  second  time ;  and  he  said  at  the 
end  of  his  song  (which  he  improvised)  that  he  was 
going  to  Montreal  with  the  Frenchmen,  and  was  on 
that  account  offering  these  prayers  to  their  God,  entreat- 
ing him  to  be  propitious  to  him  on  the  voyage,  and  to 
render  him  acceptable  to  the  French  nation.  The 
young  men  who  had  taken  off  the  kettles  took  all  the 
dishes,  which  they  filled  with  food,  while  the  three 
chanters  [chantres  de  la  nuit,  "night-birds"]  repeated 
their  first  songs,  not  finishing  their  concert  until  every- 
thing had  been  eaten -a  feat  which  did  not  take  long  to 
accomplish.  An  old  man  arose  and  congratulated,  in  the 
most  affable  manner,  the  chief  of  the  feast  on  the  pro- 
ject which  he  had  formed,  and  encouraged  the  young 
men  to  follow  him.  All  those  who  wished  to  go  on  the 
voyage  laid  down  a  stick;  there  were  enough  people  to 
man  thirty  canoes.  At  the  Sault,  they  joined  seventy 
other  canoes,  of  various  tribes,  all  of  whom  formed  a 
single  fleet. 

These  voyageurs,  passing  through  the  Nepicing 
[Lake],  found  only  a  few  Nepicirinien225  old  men,  and 
some  women  and  children,  the  young  men  being  at  Mon- 
treal for  trading.  Those  people  concealed  the  resent- 
ment that  they  felt  at  not  hearing  any  mention  [by  their 

225  The  Nipissing  (an  Algonquian  tribe)  lived  about  the  lake  of  that  name 
(meaning  "little  water  or  lake")  until  about  1650,  when  they  were  attacked 
by  the  Iroquois  and  many  of  their  number  slain;  then  they  fled  to  Lake 
Nipigon  for  a  time.  By  1671  they  had  returned  to  Lake  Nipissing,  and  later 
part  of  the  tribe  went  to  Three  Rivers,  and  some  settled  at  Oka  (where  they 
still  live),  the  village  of  the  converted  Iroquois.  They  were  a  comparatively 
unwarlike  people,  firm  friends  to  the  French,  and  ready  to  accept  the  teachings 
of  the  Catholic  missionaries.  They  were  semi-nomadic,  spending  the  winters 
among  the  Hurons  to  fish  and  hunt;  cultivated  the  soil  but  little,  and  traded 
with  the  northern  tribes.  —  JAMES  MOONEY,  in  Handbook  Amer.  Indians. 


340  LA  POTHERIE  [Vol. 

visitors]  of  paying  their  toll,  because  there  were  some 
Frenchmen,  whom  they  were  therefore  very  willing  to 
treat  with  consideration;  meanwhile  they  entertained 
the  latter,  as  they  were  the  most  prominent  men  in  the 
fleet.  The  guests  halted  an  entire  day,  in  order  to  con- 
form to  the  usual  custom  of  the  savages  who  accord  to 
their  allies  this  right  of  hospitality.  Next  day  the  fleet 
passed  through  the  Nepicing,  and  on  the  following  day 
they  descried  some  people  in  canoes,  who  uttered  cries 
for  the  dead.  All  the  fleet  made  for  the  shore,  in  order 
to  wait  for  them ;  they  reported  that  the  pest  was  mak- 
ing great  havoc  in  our  colony,  and  they  said  too  much 
about  it  not  to  frighten  the  more  credulous  of  the  travel- 
ers, who  desired  to  give  up  their  voyage.  The  Outa- 
ouaks,  who  saw  all  the  canoes  of  these  false  alarmists 
arrive  gradually,  were  surprised  that  they  were  in  so 
good  condition,  and  that  they  were  so  laden  with  mer- 
chandise. The  [real]  motive  of  those  people  was,  to 
obtain  at  a  moderate  price,  for  themselves,  the  peltries 
belonging  to  the  others,  in  order  to  spare  themselves 
from  going  out  hunting;  but  they  did  not  dare  to  dis- 
close their  design.  The  savages  are  sufficiently  politic 
not  to  seem  to  distrust  one  another;  and  in  regard  to 
news  that  is  announced  to  them  they  always  suspend 
their  opinions,  without  letting  it  appear  that  often  they 
think  the  informant  is  not  telling  the  truth. 

Le  B rochet  and  Le  Talon,  two  of  the  most  prominent 
of  the  Outaouak  chiefs,  mistrusting  that  the  Nepicirin- 
iens  might  be  longing  to  beguile  the  Kristinaux  and  the 
inland  tribes,  in  order  to  plunder  them  or  else  compel 
them  to  pay  the  toll,  inquired  of  some  Frenchmen  if 
there  was  any  probability  that  the  pest  was  at  Montreal. 
The  Outaouaks  were  undeceived.  The  Mississakis,  the 
Kristinaux,  and  the  Gens  de  Terre,  easy  to  persuade, 


one]  SAVAGE  ALLIES  OF  NEW  FRANCE  341 

yielded  to  the  opinion  of  the  Nepiciriniens ;  and  the  cool- 
ness of  their  behavior  was  very  apparent.  A  Nepicirin- 
ien,  meanwhile,  encountering  a  Frenchman,  told  him 
that  every  one  was  dying   [in  the  colony]  ;  and  the 
Frenchman  answered  him  jestingly:  "What!  the  French, 
who    are   enlightened   people,    and   who    know   what 
is   suitable    for   the    cure   of   every   kind   of    disease, 
they    are    all    dying;    and    you    who    are    ignorant 
are  living?"     The  Nepicirinien  replied  to  him.  "Our 
spirits  have  preserved  us."     "Your  spirits,"  the  French- 
man  answered,   "are   incapable   of  that,   and   are   no 
better  able  to   do  you  any  good.     It  is  the  God  of 
the  French  who  has  done  everything  for  you,  and  who 
supplies   your   needs,    although   you   do   not   deserve 
it.     You   are   liars;   you   are   trying   to   deceive   and 
abuse  the  people  who  come  down  the  river,  so  as  to 
plunder  them,  as  you  have  always  done.    As  the  number 
of  men  in  this  fleet  is  so  great  as  to  hinder  you  from  doing 
that,  you  are  making  them  afraid,  by  trying  to  persuade 
them  that  all  the  French  people  are  dying  from  an 
imaginary  disease.    Know  that  Onontio  sent  me  a  letter 
when  I  was  at  the  bay,  in  which  he  ordered  me  to  have 
all  the  tribes  go  down  [to  Montreal],  as  he  wished  to 
see  them."    And,  drawing  from  his  pocket  an  old  piece 
of  paper  on  which  there  was  writing,  which  he  feigned 
to  be  from  Monsieur  Coursel,  he  said  to  him:  "[You 
may]  oppose  [this  voyage],  Nepicirinien;  but  if  this 
fleet  goes  back  I  shall  continue  my  journey;"  and  the 
Frenchman  declared  that  he  would  make  known  to 
Onontio  the  opposition  that  the  other  had  made  to  this 
fleet,  and  how  he  had  hindered  the  accomplishment  of 
Onontio's  purpose.     The  Nepiciriniens  disguised  their 
knavish  tricks  as  best  they  could,  and  said  that  in  fact  the 
maladies  had  ceased  when  they  left  [the  colony]. 


342  LA  POTHERIE  [Vol. 

All  those  peoples  went  down  to  Montreal,  where  they 
were  not  very  well  satisfied  with  the  trading;  the  great 
quantity  of  peltries  caused  the  buyers  to  try  to  get  them 
very  cheaply.  Moreover,  not  only  had  the  Nepicirin- 
iens  carried  away  the  greater  part  of  the  merchandise, 
but  those  who  held  the  rest  of  it  tried  to  make  their  pro- 
fits from  an  opportunity  so  favorable;  the  savages 
murmured  at  this,  and  even  a  disturbance  occurred ;  they 
cudgeled  a  sentinel,  whose  gun  they  took  away,  and 
broke  his  sword.  Some  chiefs,  who  had  caused  this  se- 
dition, were  arrested.  A  number  of  Iroquois  who  had 
come  to  negotiate  a  peace,  delighted  at  this  hubbub,  were 
very  desirous  that  the  minds  of  people  should  be  further 
exasperated,  so  that  they  could  secure  an  opportunity  of 
coming  to  hostilities  with  those  tribes ;  they  all  hastened 
at  the  report  of  the  disturbance,  and  offered  their  ser- 
vices to  the  French.  The  Outaouaks,  who  as  yet  had  no 
acquaintance  withjfi  rearms,  saw  very  plainly  that  they 
were  not  the  stronger  party.  The  Pouteouatemis  were 
the  most  discreet,  and,  although  they  were  not  entangled 
in  the  midst  of  these  troubles,  they  were  continually 
dreading  lest  some  disagreeable  consequences  would 
happen  to  them.  As  at  that  time  a  general  peace  with 
the  Iroquois  was  being  discussed,  the  commandant  at 
Montreal  made  the  Outaouaks  go  down  to  Quebec,  that 
they  might  be  witnesses  of  what  should  take  place  for 
the  benefit  of  all  the  allied  tribes.  The  Pouteouatemis, 
who  had  as  yet  visited  the  colony  but  once,  were  very 
glad  at  being  included  in  this  visit. 

Chapter  XI 

The  peace  was  made,  accordingly,  in  1666 ;  and  people 
began  to  enjoy  this  tranquillity,  which  enabled  every 
one  to  live  prosperously  on  his  own  lands,  and  to  trade 


one]  SAVAGE  ALLIES  OF  NEW  FRANCE  343 

among  our  allies  with  safety.  In  truth,  nothing  was 
more  melancholy  than  to  dwell  in  the  continual  anxiety 
that  one  might  have  his  scalp  torn  off  at  the  door  of  his 
own  house,  or  be  carried  away  from  it  among  those  bar- 
barians, who  burned  the  most  of  their  captives. 

It  was,  besides,  for  the  interest  of  the  colony  to  make 
known  the  glory  of  the  king  among  all  the  peoples  of  the 
south,  of  the  west,  and  of  the  north.  The  alliance  which 
was  beginning  to  gain  footing  could  not  better  be 
strengthened  than  by  assuring  them,  in  their  own  coun- 
try, of  inviolable  protection;  and  in  fact,  a  little  while 
after  those  peoples  had  gone  back  to  their  own  country, 
Monsieur  Talon,  the  intendant  of  Canada,  sent  thither 
in  1667  a  delegate,  with  Sieur  Perot,  who  was  considered 
the  most  competent  man  to  conduct  this  business.  They 
set  out  with  orders  to  go  to  take  possession,  in  the  name 
of  the  king,  of  all  the  country  of  the  Outaouaks.  The 
Saut  de  Sainte  Marie,  about  the  46th  degree  of  latitude, 
was  the  place  where  the  general  assemblies  of  all  the 
tribes  were  held,  and  thus  there  was  no  locality  where 
this  matter  could  be  transacted  with  more  eclat.  They 
spent  five  or  six  months  in  notifying  the  tribes,  but  none 
consented  except  the  Puans.  Perot  decided  to  go  among 
them  himself ;  but  he  met  Father  Aloiiet,  a  Jesuit,  who 
had  wintered  there  [at  the  Bay],  with  some  Frenchmen, 
who  had  encountered  there  all  possible  annoyances. 
Those  peoples  had  been  so  offended  because  the  French 
at  Montreal  had  sold  them  merchandise  at  an  excessive 
price  that,  in  order  to  recoup  themselves,  they  sold  their 
beaver  pelts  at  a  triple  price  to  the  Frenchmen  who  went 
among  them.  But  Perot,  without  heeding  the  affronts 
that  his  compatriots  had  received  from  them,  concluded 
to  go  there.  He  arrived  at  the  bay  in  that  same  year  in 
the  month  of  May,  and,  finding  that  they  were  out  fish- 


344  LA  POTHERIE  [Vol. 

ing,  he  invited  them  to  return  to  their  village,  where  he 
had   something   important   to   communicate   to   them. 
After  they  had  reached  the  village,  he  explained  to  them 
the  motive  which  had  brought  him  among  them;  and 
they  consented,  without  making  any  objection,  to  be 
present  at  the  [ceremony  of]  taking  possession.    It  was 
still  necessary  to  interest  the  Outagamis,  the  Miamis, 
the  Maskoutechs,  the  Kikabous,  and  the  Islinois  in  the 
plan.    The  Pouteouatemis  gave  him  an  escort,  because 
the  Nadouaissioux  had,  several  days  before,  [killed] 
twelve  Maskoutechs  who  were  fishing  along  their  river. 
When  he  was  four  leagues  distant  from  their  village,  he 
made  known  to  them  his  arrival;  and  the  chief  of  the 
Miamis  immediately  gave  orders  that  his  people  should 
go  in  warlike  array  to  receive  Perot  at  a  place  half  a 
league  away.    At  once  they  marched,  in  order  of  battle, 
decked   with   handsome   ornaments   of    feathers,    and 
armed  with  quivers,  bows,  arrows,  and  clubs,  as  if  they 
had  intended  to  fight  a  battle.    They  all  marched  in 
single  file,  their  clubs  uplifted,  and  from  time  to  time 
uttered  yells.   The  Pouteouatemis,  having  perceived  this 
advance,  told  him  that  the  Miamis  were  receiving  him 
in  martial  fashion,  and  that  he  must  imitate  them.    Im- 
mediately he  placed  himself  at  their  head,  and  they 
rushed  upon  the  Miamis  with  their  guns  loaded  with 
powder,  as  if  to  check  their  advance.    The  head  of  the 
file  of  Miamis  passed  to  the  left,  making  a  circuit  of 
five  hundred  paces  in  order  to  surround  them,  each  man 
keeping  at  the  same  distance  from  those  in  front  and  be- 
hind him ;  the  head  of  the  file  joined  the  rear,  and  the 
Pouteouatemis  found  themselves  all  hemmed  in.    The 
Miamis,  uttering  a  terrible  yell,  suddenly  came  pouring 
upon  them,  firing  all  those  arrows  above  their  heads; 
and  when  they  were  almost  near  enough  to  deal  each 


one]  SAVAGE  ALLIES  OF  NEW  FRANCE  345 

other  blows,  the  Miamis  came  on  as  if  to  attack  them 
with  their  clubs.  The  Pouteouatemis  fired  a  volley  from 
their  muskets,  preceded  by  frightful  cries,  over  the 
others,  and  then  all  mingled  together.  Such  was  the 
reception  by  those  peoples,  who  then,  with  the  calumets, 
made  their  guests  enter  the  village. 

The  Frenchman  went  to  the  house  of  the  chief  of  all 
those  tribes,  and  the  others  were  scattered  among  the 
houses  of  the  Miamis.  The  chief  of  the  Miamis  com- 
manded fifty  warriors  to  act  as  a  guard  and  wait  upon 
him;  and  several  days  later  entertained  him  with  the 
game  of  crosse,  in  this  manner. 

More  than  two  thousand  persons  assembled  in  a  great 
plain,  each  with  his  racket;  and  a  wooden  ball,  as  large 
as  a  tennis-ball,  was  thrown  into  the  air.  Then  all  that 
could  be  seen  was  the  flourishes  and  motion  through  the 
air  of  all  those  rackets,  which  made  a  noise  like  that  of 
weapons  which  is  heard  in  a  battle.  Half  of  all  those 
savages  endeavored  to  send  the  ball  in  the  direction  of 
the  northwest,  the  length  of  the  plain,  and  the  others 
tried  to  make  it  go  to  the  southeast;  the  strife,  which 
lasted  half  an  hour,  was  doubtful.  Games  of  this  sort 
are  usually  followed  by  broken  heads,  arms,  and  legs; 
and  often  persons  are  killed  therein  without  any  other 
injury  occurring  to  them.  This  exercise  ended,  a  woman 
came  to  him,  in  the  utmost  grief  at  the  sickness  of  her 
son;  and  she  asked  the  Frenchman  if,  since  he  was  a 
spirit,  he  had  not  power  to  heal  him.  The  sick  man  was 
attacked  by  a  pain  in  the  stomach,  through  having  eaten 
too  much  at  a  feast  (which  is  only  too  common  among 
them)  ;  Perot  gave  him  a  dose  of  theriac."'  This  rem- 
edy was  so  beneficial  that  at  once  it  was  reported  among 

228  Theriacs  were  a  kind  of  medicine  highly  esteemed  during  the  middle 
ages;  they  were  composed  of  opium,  flavored  with  nutmeg,  cardamom,  cinna- 
mon, and  mace  —  or  sometimes  with  saffron  and  ambergris.  —  ED. 


346  LA  POTHERIE  [Vol. 

them  that  he  had  brought  a  dead  person  to  life.  The 
result  was,  that  the  great  chief  and  two  of  the  most  prom- 
inent men  among  them  came  to  awaken  the  Frenchman 
during  the  night,  and  made  him  a  present  of  ten  beaver 
robes,  in  order  to  induce  him  to  give  them  some  of  this 
remedy.  He  excused  himself,  saying  that  he  had  very 
little  of  it,  and  refused  the  robes.  Moreover,  he  told 
them  that  he  could  not  do  without  the  remedy  in  a 
voyage  wherein  he  might  encounter  so  many  dangers, 
but  they  begged  it  from  him  even  more  urgently;  and 
they  asked  him  to  permit  them  at  least  to  smell  it.  This 
odor  seemed  to  them  so  delightful  that  they  believed 
that  they  would  almost  become  immortal  by  rubbing  the 
chest  with  this  remedy.  The  Frenchman  was  compelled 
to  accept  the  robes,  so  as  not  to  make  the  chief  more 
angry.  It  is  their  custom  to  make  presents  to  those  who 
have  spirits  (thus  they  call  remedies),  which  they  be- 
lieved could  not  produce  their  effect  if  one  refused  their 
presents.  The  Frenchman  therefore  gave  them  half  of 
the  theriac  that  he  had. 

It  was  time  to  return  to  the  Pouteouatemis ;  the  great 
chief,  accompanied  by  fifty  warriors,  intended  to  go  to 
attend  this  act  of  taking  possession,  but  the  wind  grew 
so  violent  upon  the  lake  that  they  were  compelled  to 
give  up  the  voyage.  The  chief  asked  the  Pouteouatemis 
to  act  and  respond  for  him,  and  for  the  peoples  who 
were  united  to  his  own. 

All  the  chiefs  of  the  bay,  those  of  Lake  Huron  and 
Lake  Superior,  and  the  people  of  the  north,  not  to  men- 
tion several  other  tribes,  came  to  the  Saut  at  the  end  of 
May.  These  peoples  being  assembled,  a  stake  was 
planted,  and  presents  were  made  to  them  in  behalf  of 
his  majesty.  They  were  asked  if  they  would  acknowl- 
edge, as  his  subjects,  the  great  Onontio  of  the  French, 


one]  SAVAGE  ALLIES  OF  NEW  FRANCE  347 

our  sovereign  and  our  king,  who  offered  them  his  pro- 
tection; and,  if  they  had  not  yet  decided  [to  do  that], 
never  to  acknowledge  any  other  monarch  than  him. 
All  the  chiefs  replied,  by  reciprocal  presents,  that  they 
held  nothing  dearer  than  the  alliance  with  the  French 
and  the  special  regard  of  their  great  chief,  who  lived 
beyond  that  great  lake  the  ocean ;  and  they  implored  his 
support,  without  which  they  could  no  longer  maintain 
life.  Sieur  Perot,  at  the  same  time  causing  the  soil  to 
be  dug  into  three  times,  said  to  them:  "I  take  possession 
of  this  country  in  the  name  of  him  whom  we  call  our 
king;  this  land  is  his,  and  all  these  peoples  who  hear  me 
are  his  subjects,  whom  he  will  protect  as  his  own  chil- 
dren; he  desires  that  they  live  in  peace,  and  he  will  take 
in  hand  their  affairs.  If  any  enemies  rise  up  against 
them,  he  will  destroy  them ;  if  his  children  have  any  dis- 
putes among  themselves,  he  desires  to  be  the  judge  in 
these." 

The  [governor's]  delegate  then  attached  to  the  stake 
an  iron  plate  on  which  the  arms  of  the  king  were 
painted ;  he  drew  up  an  official  report  of  the  transaction, 
which  he  made  all  the  peoples  sign  [by  their  chiefs],  .  , 
who  for  their  signatures  depict  the  insignia  of  their  fam- 
ilies; some  of  them  drew  a  beaver,  others  an  otter,  a 
sturgeon,  a  deer,  or  an  elk.  Other  reports  were  drawn 
up,  which  were  signed  only  by  the  Frenchmen  who  took 
part  in  the  act.  One  of  these  was  dextrously  slipped  be- 
tween the  wood  and  the  iron  plate,  which  remained 
there  but  a  short  time;  for  hardly  had  the  crowd  sepa- 
rated when  they  drew  out  the  nails  from  the  plate,  flung 
the  document  into  the  fire,  and  again  fastened  up  the 
arms  of  the  king- fearing  that  the  written  paper  was  a 
spell,  which  would  cause  the  deaths  of  all  those  who 
dwelt  in  or  should  visit  that  district.  The  delegate  had 


348  LA  POTHERIE  [Vol. 

orders  to  go,  after  the  act  of  taking  possession,  to  make 
the  discovery  of  a  copper  mine  at  Lake  Superior,  in  the 
river  Antonagan;  but  his  conduct  in  this  enterprise  was 
so  irregular,  to  use  no  stronger  expression,  that  I  will 
content  myself  with  stating  that  he  was  sent  to  Cadie,227 
in  order  to  send  him  back  to  France. 

The  discovery  of  the  Southern  Sea  was  an  undertak- 
ing on  which  Monsieur  Talon  had  set  his  heart,  and  he 
cast  his  eyes  on  Sieur  Joliet  to  make  this  attempt.  He 
had  traveled  in  the  Outaouak  country;  and  the  knowl- 
edge of  those  regions  which  he  already  possessed  was 
sufficient  to  give  him  enough  guidance  to  make  this 
discovery.  His  voyage  was  one  long  series  of  adven- 
tures, which  alone  would  fill  a  volume;  but,  to  cut  the 
matter  short,  he  penetrated  as  far  as  the  Akancas,  who 
dwell  three  hundred  leagues  from  the  mouth  of  the 
Mississippi.228  The  Illinois  who  had  accompanied  him 
brought  him  back  by  another  route,  shorter  by  two  hun- 
dred leagues,  and  had  him  enter  the  Saint  Joseph  River, 
where  Monsieur  de  la  Sale  had  begun  a  settlement. 

The  renown  of  the  French  was  then  made  known  in 
the  most  remote  countries;  and  it  was  something  alto- 
gether extraordinary  to  the  peoples  therein  to  hear 
frequent  mention  of  a  new  nation,  so  opulent,  from 
which  they  obtained  so  many  advantages.  What  did 
not  the  Chaouanons  undertake,  on  the  mere  report  of 
the  man  who  had  been  delivered  from  the  hands  of  the 
Iroquois,  and  whom  the  Pouteouatemis  sent  back  to  his 
home  laden  with  French  merchandise !  They  knew  that 
among  those  [northern]  tribes  there  were  some  people 

227  Cadie  is  only  a  shortened  form  of  Acadie  (Acadia),  a  name  somewhat 
vaguely  applied  at  first,  but  generally  referring  to  Nova  Scotia.  —  ED. 

228  An  allusion  to  the  voyage    (1673)    of  Joliet  and  Marquette,  who  dis- 
covered the  Mississippi  River  and  explored  its  course   as  far  as  the  Arkan- 
sas. -  ED. 


one]  SAVAGE  ALLIES  OF  NEW  FRANCE  349 

who  were  called  French,  who  had  shown  themselves 
more  sociable  than  those  of  their  own  region,  and  who 
were  furnishing  all  sorts  of  merchandise.  This  was 
enough  to  induce  them  to  profit  by  this  advantage;  and 
forty  warriors  actually  departed,  to  settle  near  the  Poute- 
ouatemis.  During  their  journey  they  surprised  some 
Iroquois  who  were  going  to  make  an  attack  at  the  Bay  of 
Puans;  and  of  these  they  killed  or  captured  several. 
They  passed  through  a  village  of  Miamis,  who  wel- 
comed them  in  so  friendly  a  manner  that  they  could  not 
refrain  from  giving  them  their  Iroquois  captives.  The 
Miamis  sent  these  captives  to  the  Outagamis  to  be  eaten, 
in  reprisal  for  the  Iroquois  having  carried  away,  a  short 
time  before,  the  people  of  five  [Miami?]  cabins.  The 
Outagamis,  seeing  that  this  conjuncture  was  favorable 
for  making  an  exchange  of  captives,  sent  an  embassy  to 
the  Iroquois. 

When  the  ambassador  had  crossed  [Lake]  Micheigan, 
he  encountered  eight  hundred  Iroquois  who  were  com- 
ing as  a  war-party,  to  attack  the  first  village  that  they 
might  light  upon.  The  Iroquois  then  could  not  forbear 
to  calm  their  resentment;  they  promised  the  ambassador 
that  from  that  time  there  would  be  a  barrier  between  his 
people  and  allies,  and  their  own;  and  that  the  river  of 
Chigagon229  should  be  the  limit  of  their  raids.  They 
sent  him  back  with  presents,  giving  him  as  companions 
one  of  their  principal  men  with  a  young  warrior;  and 

229  Chicago  (a  Sauk-Fox  appellation  derived  from  shekagua,  "skunk")  was 
an  important  locality  from  an  early  date;  a  Miami  village  was  situated  there 
when  the  first  French  explorers  visited  that  region,  and  it  was  the  seat  of  the 
Jesuit  mission  of  St.  Joseph.  Chicago  was  also  the  name  of  a  chief  of  the 
Illinois  about  1725.  —  Handbook  Amer.  Indians. 

Cadillac  says  in  his  "Relation  of  Missilimakinak"  (1718),  section  v:  "The 
post  of  Chicagou  comes  next.  The  name  means  Riviere  de  I'ail  [Garlic 
River],  because  it  produces  that  plant  in  very  great  quantities,  wild  and  with- 
out cultivation."  This  may  refer  to  the  wild  garlic  (Allium)  ;  but  some  writers 
suppose  it  to  mean  skunk-cabbage  (Symplocarpus  faetidus).  —  ED. 


350  LA  POTHERIE  [Vol. 

at  the  same  time  they  turned  their  weapons  against  the 
Chaouanons. 

This  [Iroquois]  chief  passed  through  the  Miamis, 
the  Maskoutechs,  and  the  Kikabous,  where  he  was  re- 
ceived with  the  honors  of  the  calumet,  and  loaded  with 
presents  of  beaver-skins.  Those  peoples  deputed  two 
Miamis  to  accompany  him  on  his  return,  in  order  to 
treat  with  the  Iroquois  for  peace.  He  came  among  the 
Outagamis,  who  exerted  themselves  to  give  him  proofs 
of  their  esteem;  and  finally  he  arrived  at  the  bay,  where 
the  tribes  did  not  fail  to  show  him  the  happiness  that  they 
felt  at  his  being  one  of  their  friends.  They  presented  to 
him  peltries,  and  two  large  canoes  for  transporting  the 
presents  which  he  had  received  on  every  side.  The  Mi- 
amis  who  accompanied  the  Iroquois  followed  the  lake, 
and  passed  the  grand  Portage  of  Ganateitiagon,  by 
which  they  reached  Lake  Frontenac  and  Kente,  where 
there  was  a  French  mission  and  a  large  village  of  Iro- 
quois.230 They  went  from  there  to  Fort  Frontenac, 
where  Monsieur  de  la  Sale  was;  he  gave  them  many 
presents,  assuring  them  that  he  was  going  to  visit  them 
in  their  own  country. 

That  army  of  Iroquois  was  divided  into  two;  six  hun- 
dred went  against  the  Chaouanons,  and  two  hundred 
followed  the  river  of  Chigagon- where  they  encoun- 
tered some  Islinois  who  were  returning  from  Michili- 
makinak  with  some  Outaouaks,  and  captured  or  killed 
nineteen  of  them.  The  Islinois,  when  they  heard  of  this 
blow,  checked  their  resentment;  they  could  have  gone 
to  attack  the  Iroquois,  but  they  sent  to  Onontio  (who  at 

230  On  Quinte  (Kente)  Bay,  on  the  north  side  of  Lake  Ontario,  there  was 
a  colony  of  Cayugas,  among  whom  the  Sulpitians  of  Montreal  founded  a  mis- 
sion (1668)  ;  five  years  later  the  Recollect  fathers  took  charge  of  this  field 
(Jesuit  Relations,  vol.  1,  326,  and  vol.  li,  290).  Fort  Frontenac  was  at  the 
site  of  the  present  Kingston,  Ont,  a  place  which  was  called  Katarakoui  by 
the  Iroquois.  —  ED. 


one]  SAVAGE  ALLIES  OF  NEW  FRANCE  351 

the  time  was  Monsieur  de  Frontenac,  who  had  arrived 
in  Canada  in  1672) ,  a  package  of  beaver-skins,  by  which 
they  made  complaint  that  the  Iroquois  had  violated  the 
peace.  They  said  that,  through  fear  of  displeasing  him, 
they  had  refrained  from  going  to  find  the  Iroquois  and 
fighting  them;  but,  nevertheless,  they  asked  him  for 
justice.  This  new  governor  sent  them  a  collar  by  Mon- 
sieur de  la  Forest,231  who  directed  them  to  defend  them- 
selves in  case  they  were  again  attacked ;  but  he  told  them 
not  to  set  out  on  the  war-path  to  encounter  the  enemy  in 
their  own  country. 

It  is  useless  to  make  peace  with  the  Iroquois;  when 
they  can  surprise  any  one  alone,  they  grant  him  no 
quarter. 

Chapters  XII-XIV 

[SYNOPSIS:  Chapter  xii  relates  the  proceedings  of 
Chevalier  de  la  Salle;  in  1676  he  visited  all  the  great 
lakes  except  Superior,  and  established  friendly  relations 
with  the  tribes  about  their  shores.  On  Lake  Michigan 
he  constructed  a  fort,  as  a  center  for  trading  with  the 
Indians;  and  he  shipped  a  large  consignment  of  pelts 
to  Montreal.  In  August,  1679,  he  embarked  from  Nia- 
gara with  much  merchandise,  on  a  ship  which  he  built 
there,  and  safely  arrived  at  Michilimakinak.  The  In- 
dians were  alarmed  at  this  success,  forming  the  idea 
that  if  the  French  could  come  among  them  with  ships 
their  freedom  would  be  in  peril,  and  that  the  French 
would  make  slaves  of  them.  They  dissembled  their 
anger,  however,  and  plotted  secretly  to  destroy  the  ship, 

231  Guillaume  de  la  Forest  was  a  lieutenant  of  La  Salle,  and  held  command 
for  him  at  Fort  Frontenac  until  1685,  when  he  joined  Henri  de  Tonty  in 
Illinois.  These  two  officers  obtained  permission  to  engage  in  the  fur  trade, 
which  was  revoked  in  1702,  and  La  Forest  was  ordered  back  to  Canada.  In 
1710  he  replaced  Cadillac  as  commandant  at  Detroit,  where  he  died  four  years 
later.  _  ED. 


352  LA  POTHERIE  [Vol. 

kill  all  the  French,  and  place  themselves  under  the  pro- 
tection of  the  English.  "They  sent  deputies  in  all  haste 
to  the  Islinois,  and  to  the  tribes  who  dwelt  along  the 
route,  to  advise  them  to  beware  of  the  French.  They 
sent  this  word  to  those  peoples :  'We  are  dead ;  our  fam- 
ilies and  yours  will  be  henceforth  reduced  to  servitude 
by  the  French,  who  will  make  them  cultivate  the  ground, 
and  without  doubt  will  yoke  them  as  they  do  their  cattle. 
They  have  come  to  Michilimakinak  in  a  fort  that  floats 
on  the  water,  which  cannot  be  entered  unless  they  are 
taken  by  surprise.  This  fort  has  wings,  which  it  can 
[use]  when  it  sets  out  to  destroy  any  people.  It  is  to  go 
to  the  Islinois  by  way  of  the  lakes,  and  all  the  French 
who  trade  here  are  going  into  their  great  canoe ;  and  they 
will  be  strong  enough  to  make  slaves  of  us  all,  unless  we 
prevent  their  undertaking.  We  are  acquainted  with 
the  English,  who  furnish  merchandise  to  us  at  a  more 
reasonable  price  than  the  French  do.  The  French  mean 
to  betray  us,  and  lord  it  over  us.  These  presents- which 
we  send  you  secretly,  so  that  we  may  not  be  discovered - 
are  daggers  for  massacring  all  the  French  who  are 
among  you,  and  for  informing  you  that  we  will  do  the 
same  to  those  who  are  with  us.'  The  chief  of  the  Sau- 
teurs  was  more  sensible  than  all  those  peoples  who  had 
sent  him  presents  [asking  him]  to  join  that  same  con- 
spiracy. His  reply  to  them  was:  'You  are  children. 
You  do  not  know  the  Englishman,  who  is  the  father  of 
the  Iroquois- against  whom  Onontio  our  father  has 
undertaken  war,  and  whom  he  has  compelled  to  demand 
peace;  and  what  he  has  thus  done  is  only  to  protect  us 
from  the  Englishman's  barbarous  treatment.  When 
you  shall  have  carried  out  this  reckless  move  which  you 
are  proposing,  see  if  the  Iroquois  will  not  avail  himself 
of  the  opportunity  to  satiate  his  fury,  and  his  passion  for 


one]  SAVAGE  ALLIES  OF  NEW  FRANCE  353 

destroying  all  the  peoples ;  and  if  his  father,  who  will  be 
more  partial  to  him  than  to  us,  will  not  abandon  us  to 
the  kettle  of  the  Iroquois.  I  know  the  French  governor, 
who  has  never  betrayed  me,  and  I  do  not  trust  the  Eng- 
lishman.' It  is  astonishing  that  Monsieur  de  la  Sale 
had  no  knowledge  of  all  the  schemes  that  were  plotted 
against  him.  He  traded  for  all  the  peltries  of  those 
peoples,  which  he  placed  aboard  his  bark;  and  he  left  in 
the  vessel  only  five  or  six  Frenchmen,  to  whom  he  gave 
orders  to  return  [to  Niagara]  with  the  first  favorable 
weather;  for  his  part,  he  continued  his  journey  in  ca- 
noes, in  order  to  join  the  men  whom  he  had  left  at  the 
river  of  Saint  Joseph.  Hardly  was  the  bark  under  sail 
when  a  storm  arose,  which  drove  it  into  a  small  bay,  five 
or  six  leagues  from  the  anchorage  which  it  had  left. 
The  Outaouak  deputies  who  had  inveigled  the  Islinois 
into  their  conspiracy,  returning,  perceived  the  bark,  and 
went  on  board.  The  pilot  received  them  with  entire 
good-will;  but  the  opportunity  seemed  to  them  at  the 
moment  too  advantageous  to  miss  their  stroke.  They 
slew  all  the  Frenchmen  [footnote,  "In  1679"],  carried 
away  all  the  goods  that  suited  them,  and  burned  the 
bark.  It  had  cost  more  than  forty  thousand  francs, 
[and]  as  much  in  merchandise,  tools,  peltries,  outfit, 
rigging,  and  furniture.  Monsieur  de  la  Sale,  who,  after 
the  tokens  of  esteem  and  friendship  which  those  peoples 
had  given  him,  had  never  suspected  such  perfidy,  be- 
lieved that  his  ship  had  been  wrecked.  The  savages,  on 
their  part,  considered  themselves  freed  from  a  burden 
which  to  them  seemed  heavy;  but  they  did  not  recognize 
in  it  their  own  good  fortune." 

[Chapter  xiii  relates  La  Salle's  adventures  in  Illi- 
nois-his  establishment  on  the  Illinois  River,232  his  ex- 

232  This  post  of  La  Salle's  was  called  Fort  St.  Louis,  and  was  built  on  the 
lofty  height  called  "Starved  Rock,"  near  the  present  Utica,  111.  -  ED. 


354  LA  POTHERIE  [Vol. 

pedition  down  the  Mississippi  (in  1681),  and  return  to 
France  (1683).  The  Iroquois  raided  the  Illinois  coun- 
try, treacherously  breaking  the  peace  they  had  concluded 
with  the  French  and  their  allies;  and  the  tribes  thus 
wronged  were  consequently  irritated  against  the  French, 
La  Salle  having  assured  them  of  the  good  behavior  of 
the  Iroquois.  At  Green  Bay  (chapter  xiv)  many  In- 
dians died  from  the  ravages  of  an  epidemic,  and  the 
superstitious  people  laid  the  blame  for  this  on  the  mis- 
sionaries there,  whose  destruction  they  began  to  plot. 
A  Frenchman  (apparently  Perrot)  so  successfully  ex- 
erted his  influence  with  the  savages,  at  the  same  time 
reproaching  them  for  the  murder  of  some  servants  of 
the  mission,  that  he  induced  them  to  promise  that  satis- 
faction should  be  made  therefor,  and  the  danger  to  the 
mission  was  averted.  In  the  same  winter  [footnote,  "In 
1683"]  a  conference  was  held  in  the  Outagami  village, 
attended  by  some  Frenchmen  who,  with  some  Chippewa 
from  the  Sault,  had  come  to  demand  from  the  Outa- 
gamis  satisfaction  for  their  retention  of  certain  captives. 
On  this  occasion,  the  following  speech  was  made  (again 
by  Perrot,  presumably)  :  "Listen,  Outagamis,  to  what 
I  am  going  to  tell  you.  I  have  learned  that  you  are  very 
desirous  to  eat  the  flesh  of  Frenchmen.  I  have  come, 
with  these  young  men  whom  you  see,  to  satisfy  you ;  put 
us  into  your  kettles,  and  gorge  yourselves  with  the  meat 
that  you  have  been  wanting."  Then,  drawing  his  sword 
from  his  scabbard,  he  showed  them  his  body,  and  con- 
tinued: "My  flesh  is  white  and  savory,  but  it  is  very 
salt;  if  you  eat  it,  I  do  not  think  that  it  will  pass  the 
Adam's-apple  without  being  vomited."  The  foremost 
war  chief  at  once  answered,  "What  child  is  there  who 
would  eat  his  father,  from  whom  he  has  received  life? 
Thou  hast  given  birth  to  us,  for  thou  didst  bring  us  the 


one]  SAVAGE  ALLIES  OF  NEW  FRANCE  355 

first  iron;  and  now  thou  tellest  us  to  eat  thee."  The 
Frenchman  replied  to  him:  "Thou  art  right  in  saying 
that  I  gave  thee  birth;  for  when  I  came  to  thy  village 
all  of  you  were  in  wretched  condition,  like  people  who 
do  not  know  where  to  halt,  and  who  come  forth  from  the 
deepest  part  of  the  earth.  Now,  when  you  are  living  in 
peace,  and  are  enjoying  the  light  which  I  have  obtained 
for  you,  you  are  desiring  to  trouble  the  country,  to  kill 
the  Sauteurs,  and  to  bring  low  those  whom  I  adopted 
before  I  did  you.  Vomit  up  your  prey;  give  me  back 
my  body,  which  you  wish  to  put  into  your  kettle ;  and 
fear  lest  the  fumes  which  will  rise  from  it,  if  you  cook 
it,  will  stir  up  vapors  that  will  form  stormy  clouds 
which  will  extend  over  your  village -which  will  be  in 
a  moment  consumed  by  the  flames  and  lightnings  that 
will  issue  from  them;  and  these  will  be  followed  by  a 
shower  of  hail,  which  will  fall  with  so  much  violence 
on  your  families  that  not  one  of  them  will  be  safe.  You 
forget  that  your  ancestors  and  yourselves  have  been  vag- 
abonds until  now;  are  you  weary  of  living  in  comfort? 
Vomit  up  [your  prey].  Believe  your  father,  who  will 
not  abandon  you  until  you  compel  him  to  do  so.  Listen 
to  my  words,  and  I  will  settle  this  unpleasant  affair 
(which  you  have  brought  on  yourselves)  with  the  Sau- 
teurs." Nothing  more  was  necessary  to  secure  the  re- 
turn of  the  captives.  On  another  occasion,  "a  Saki  hung 
up  the  war-kettle,  against  the  opinion  of  all  the  chiefs 
of  his  tribe.  Some  of  his  party  entered  the  cabin  of  a 
Frenchman,  who  was  lying  on  his  bed.  Suspecting  that 
they  came  to  say  adieu  to  him,  he  pretended  to  snore; 
the  others  waited  for  the  moment  when  he  could  be 
awakened.  The  Frenchman,  suddenly  arousing,  like  a 
man  who  comes  out  of  a  heavy  sleep,  said  aloud,  in  the 
Saki  language,  'The  Sakis  who  are  going  to  war  will  be 


356  LA  POTHERIE  [Vol. 

defeated.'  Those  warriors  asked  him  what  was  the 
cause  of  his  agitation.  He  told  them  that  he  had  just 
dreamed  that  he  saw,  in  the  plains  north  of  the  Missi- 
sipi,  on  this  side  of  the  Sioux  village,  a  camp  of  Na- 
douaissioux,  in  which  there  was  a  lighted  fire,  and  a 
great  troop  of  black  dogs,  and  some  white  dogs.  These 
animals,  meeting  there,  had  a  fight,  and  the  black  dogs 
devoured  the  white  ones,  except  the  largest  one,  who 
remained  the  last  one  alive,  and  he  was  entirely  ex- 
hausted. He  said  that  he  himself  had  tried  to  escape 
from  their  jaws,  but  all  the  black  dogs  rushed  toward 
him  to  devour  him;  and  the  fear  of  being  actually  torn 
in  pieces  had  caused  him  to  awake,  with  the  startled  ap- 
pearance which  they  had  just  remarked.  This  fiction 
had  more  effect  than  all  the  solicitations  of  those  chiefs, 
who  could  not  prevent  this  war-party,  formed  so  un- 
seasonably; for  those  young  warriors  went  about  relat- 
ing the  danger  of  the  Frenchmen;  they  interpreted  the 
sense  [of  this  dream]  by  representing  the  Nadouaissioux 
as  the  black  dogs,  and  the  Sakis  as  the  white  ones ;  and 
they  did  not  fail  to  say  that  the  spirit  had  availed  him- 
self of  the  Frenchman,  in  this  emergency,  to  turn  them 
aside  from  an  enterprise  which  without  doubt  would 
have  been  fatal  to  them."  The  rest  of  the  chapter  is 
occupied  with  an  account  of  the  expedition  against  the 
Iroquois  country  by  Governor  la  Barre,  evidently  drawn 
from  Perrot's  relation  in  his  Memoire."] 

Chapter  XV 

The  name  of  Frenchman  was  rendered  worthy  of 
respect  in  all  places ;  and  the  more  remote  peoples  who 
had  profited  by  the  advantages  of  alliance  with  the 
French  experienced  a  great  change  from  the  former  con- 
dition in  which  they  were ;  when  they  waged  war  against 


one]  SAVAGE  ALLIES  OF  NEW  FRANCE  357 

some  tribes  who  were  unknown  to  us,  they  were  able 
to  end  it  to  their  own  advantage  by  favor  of  the  arms 
that  they  had  obtained  from  us.  The  more  discoveries 
we  made,  the  more  we  desired  to  make.  The  north  was 
known  to  us,  and  the  south  gradually  became  so ;  but  it 
still  remained  to  penetrate  into  the  west,  where,  as  we  had 
knowledge,  many  peoples  dwelt.  Monsieur  de  la  Barre 
in  the  spring  [footnote,  "1683"]  sent  twenty  Frenchmen 
to  attempt  this  enterprise,  under  the  direction  of  Sieur 
Perrot,  to  whom  he  gave  letters-patent  as  commandant 
of  that  region.  When  they  had  gone  fifty  leagues  from 
Montreal,  they  met  some  Outaouaks,  who  were  coming 
down  to  that  city;  and  usage  demanded  that  travelers 
who  met  each  other  should  land  on  the  shore,  in  order 
to  give  mutual  information  of  the  news  on  both  sides. 
These  Outaouaks  said  that  the  Sauteur  tribe  had  been 
destroyed  by  the  Outagamis,  and  that  they  themselves 
were  going  to  Onontio,  their  father,  to  ask  him  for 
[fire]  arms,  in  exchange  for  peltries,  in  order  to  avenge 
the  Sauteurs.  Although  those  peoples  might  often  have 
quarrels,  it  was  nevertheless  to  the  interest  of  the  colony 
to  prevent  them  from  destroying  one  another.  The 
commander  of  these  twenty  Frenchmen  sent  informa- 
tion of  this  matter  to  Monsieur  de  la  Barre,  who  wrote 
to  the  Jesuit  fathers  and  the  commandant  at  Michili- 
makinak  to  prevent  the  Outaouaks  from  making  any  at- 
tack on  the  Outagamis.  The  Outaouaks,  rightly  sus- 
pecting that  Monsieur  de  la  Barre  was  not  favorable  to 
their  designs,  and  that  all  the  letters  entrusted  to  them 
might  furnish  obstacles  thereto,  burned  the  letters,  ex- 
cepting the  one  which  was  addressed  to  Perrot,  because 
they  imagined  that,  as  he  was  a  friend  to  them,  he  at 
least  would  favor  them  in  their  schemes.  All  that  they 
said  to  the  Jesuits  on  their  arrival  was,  that  Onontio  had 


358  LA  POTHERIE  [Vol. 

[given]  them  the  Outagamis  "for  broth."  The  very 
opposite  was  learned  from  the  letter  which  Perrot  re- 
ceived, in  which  Monsieur  de  la  Barre  expressly  for- 
bade that  the  Outaouaks  should  commit  hostile  acts 
against  the  Outagamis,  and  directed  him  to  settle  their 
dispute. 

A  Sauteur  chief  had  a  daughter  eighteen  years  old, 
who  had  been  for  a  year  a  slave  among  the  Outagamis, 
and  whom  he  could  not  redeem.  In  this  wretched  situ- 
ation, the  dread  which  he  felt  that,  if  he  made  any  at- 
tempt to  demand  the  girl,  he  himself  would  be  burned 
by  them,  took  away  his  courage ;  [but  now]  he  resolved 
to  do  it,  and  joined  our  Frenchmen.  All  the  tribes  at 
the  bay  had  carried  to  the  Outagamis  a  great  many  pres- 
ents, in  order  to  ransom  this  girl,  but  nothing  had  been 
sufficient  to  move  them;  it  was  even  feared  that  she 
would  be  sacrificed  to  the  shades  of  the  great  chief  whom 
the  Sauteurs  had  slain.  This  afflicted  father  found  no 
consolation  in  any  of  the  places  through  which  he  passed, 
because  the  people  there  told  him  that  the  Frenchmen, 
as  they  were  not,  like  themselves,  relatives  of  the  Outa- 
gamis, could  never  get  possession  of  his  daughter.  Per- 
rot made  him  remain  at  the  bay,  for  fear  that  the  Outa- 
gamis would  snatch  him  away  from  the  French  and  put 
him  on  the  gridiron.  As  soon  as  he  arrived  at  their  vil- 
lage they  approached  him,  all  bursting  into  tears,  and 
relating  to  him  the  treachery  of  the  Sauteurs  and  the 
Nadouaissious.  They  told  him  that  their  great  chief 
had  been  killed  in  the  fight,  with  fifty-six  of  their  men; 
and  that,  although  they  had  only  two  hundred  men,  they 
had  routed  the  enemies,  who  numbered  eight  hundred 
fighting  men.  This  discourse  gave  him  an  opportunity 
to  speak  of  that  girl;  and,  having  called  them  to  an 
assembly,  he  spoke  to  them  as  follows : 


one]  SAVAGE  ALLIES  OF  NEW  FRANCE  359 

"Old  men,  chiefs,  and  young  men  of  the  Outagamis, 
listen  to  me.  I  have  had  information  that,  in  order  to 
form  a  solid  peace  between  the  Sauteurs  and  Nadouais- 
sious,  through  a  conference  which  we  had  together,  the 
former  had  invited  the  latter  to  put  you  and  your  fam- 
ilies into  their  kettles.  It  is  the  Spirit  who  created  all 
who  has  made  known  to  us  the  peril  in  which  you  have 
been;  and  we  have  prayed  him  to  take  pity  on  you,  ask- 
ing that  his  almighty  power  may  deliver  you  from  the 
treachery  of  your  enemies,  who  have  not  obtained  any  of 
your  spoils,  nor  the  scalps  of  your  dead.  He  has  made 
you  masters  of  the  field  of  battle ;  you  have  made  pris- 
oners of  their  men,  and  you  have  cut  off  the  heads  of 
those  whom  you  have  slain,  which  is  the  final  proof  of  a 
savage's  valor.  You  ought  not  to  ascribe  the  victory  to 
your  own  bravery;  it  is  that  Spirit  who  has  fought  for 
you  whom  you  ought  to  acknowledge  as  your  deliverer. 
What  do  you  mean  to  do  with  this  Sauteur  girl  whom 
you  have  so  long  kept  back?  Is  keeping  her  here  likely 
to  appease  your  anger  against  her  people?  She  belongs 
to  me,  and  I  demand  her  from  you.  I  am  your  father, 
and  it  is  the  Spirit  who  has  employed  me  to  come  among 
you,  as  the  first  Frenchman  who  has  opened  the  door  of 
your  cabin.  All  these  peoples  of  the  bay,  who  are  my 
children,  are  your  brothers ;  foreseeing  your  refusal,  they 
dread  the  evils  that  threaten  you.  Swallow  your  desire 
for  vengeance,  if  you  desire  to  live."  While  talking  to 
them,  he  held  his  calumet  in  his  hand ;  he  held  it  to  the 
mouth  of  the  brother  of  the  great  chief,  to  have  him 
smoke,  but  the  latter  refused  it;  then  he  presented  it  to 
others,  who  accepted  it.  Then  he  filled  it  with  tobacco, 
and  again  presented  it  to  the  first  man,  as  many  as  three 
times;  but  he  refused  it,  as  he  had  done  before,  which 
constrained  Perrot  to  leave  the  room  instantly,  very  in- 


360  LA  POTHERIE  [Vol. 

dignant.  The  Outagamis  are  of  two  lineages ;  those  of 
one  call  themselves  Renards,  and  the  others  are  of  the 
Red-earth  family.233  The  man  who  refused  the  calumet 
vvwas  chief  of  the  Renards,  who  had  taken  the  place  of  his 
fa  v^c  brother.  The  chief  of  the  Red  Earth  followed  Perrot, 
^  S^  y\&  .ftVand  conducted  him  into  his  own  cabin,  where  he  called 
together  all  the  old  men  and  warriors  of  his  tribe,  and 
spoke  to  them  thus : 

"You  have  heard  your  father  Metaminens"  (that  is 
the  name  by  which  he  was  known) ,  "who  desires  to  give 
us  life,  and  our  brothers  the  Renards  are  trying  to  take 
it  away  from  us,  desiring  us  to  be  forsaken  by  the  Spirit, 
to  whom  they  refuse  a  slave  girl.  Bring  me  some  kettles, 
and  I  will  talk  to  them ;  I  will  prove  their  good-will,  and 
I  will  see  if  they  will  refuse  me.  I  have  always  been 
the  prop  of  their  village,  and  my  father  and  dead  brother 
have  always  exposed  themselves  to  danger  in  their  be- 
half, having  lost  many  young  men  in  order  to  defend 
them ;  if  they  refuse  me,  I  will  let  another  use  my  fire, 
and  I  will  abandon  them  to  the  fury  of  their  enemies." 

After  these  kettles  and  some  merchandise  had  been 
brought  to  him,  he  took  his  calumet  and  with  a  retinue 
of  his  lieutenants  entered  the  cabin  of  that  stubborn 
man,  and  said  to  him:  "My  comrade,  behold  the  calu- 

233  Cf.  this  statement  with  that  in  Major  Marston's  letter  of  1820  (which 
immediately  follows  La  Potherie's  account)  ;  there,  as  in  various  other  authori- 
ties, the  names  Fox  and  Renard  are  applied  to  the  Musquaki,  their  own 
appellation  for  their  tribe.  The  apparent  discrepancy  is  explained  by  William 
Jones  (Handbook  Amer.  Indians,  472)  as  a  misunderstanding  by  the  French 
who  first  met  some  of  the  Fox  clan,  and  thereafter  applied  the  name  of  the  clan 
to  the  whole  tribe.  Hewitt  says  (ut  supra,  art.  "Squawkihow") :  "The  signi- 
fication of  Musk*waki  is  'red  earth,'  and  may  have  been  originally  employed  in 
contradistinction  to  Osauaki  or  Osaivki,  'yellow  earth,'  the  base  of  the  tribal 
name  'Sauk.' "  Miss  Owen  confirms  this  statement  thus  (Folk-Lore  of  the 
Musquakie  Indians,  18)  :  "  'Musquakie'  means  'Fox,'  whether  reference  is  made 
to  the  animal  or  the  tribesman,  in  Saukie,  Kickapoo,  and  Musquakie,  though 
the  Saukies  say  jokingly  that  Geechee  Manito-ah  ["the  Great  Spirit"]  made 
the  Saukie  out  of  yellow  clay  and  the  Squawkie  out  of  red."  —  ED. 


one]  SAVAGE  ALLIES  OF  NEW  FRANCE  361 

met  of  our  ancestors  who  are  dead.  When  any  emer- 
gencies occurred  in  our  village,  they  offered  it  to  thy 
ancestors,  who  never  refused  it.  I  offer  it  to  thee,  filled 
with  these  kettles,  and  I  entreat  thee  to  take  pity  on  our 
children,  and  to  give  that  Sauteur  girl  to  Metaminens, 
who  has  asked  thee  for  her."  The  chief  of  the  Renards 
smoked,  and  had  all  his  relatives  smoke.234  The  chief 
of  the  Red  Earth  returned  to  his  cabin  and  told  Sieur 
Perrot,  the  commandant,  that  the  affair  was  settled,  and 
that  he  would  have  the  Sauteur  girl.  During  the  night 
a  storm  arose,  so  violent  that  it  seemed  as  if  the  entire 
machinery  of  the  world  was  broken  up ;  a  heavy  rain, 
with  lightning  and  thunder,  made  so  great  a  tumult  that 
they  thought  they  were  lost  men.  As  all  the  savages  are 
naturally  superstitious,  they  imagined  that  the  Spirit 
was  incensed  at  them.  In  the  village  nothing  was  heard 
save  the  complaints  of  the  old  men,  who  said:  aWhat 
art  thou  thinking  of,  Onkimaouassam?  dost  thou  intend 
to  cause  the  death  of  thy  children?  Dost  thou  love  the 
Sauteur  girl  better  than  the  families  of  thy  own  village? 
Didst  not  thou  understand  what  was  said  to  thee  by 
Metaminens,  who  loves  us  and  desires  to  give  us  life? 

234  Smoking  was  found  among  the  aborigines  of  America  by  the  earliest 
discoverers.  The  natives  took  the  fumes  of  tobacco  as  a  cure  for  disease. 
"Tobacco  or  some  mixture  thereof  was  invariably  smoked  in  councils  with  the 
whites  and  on  other  solemn  occasions.  No  important  undertaking  was  entered 
upon  without  deliberation  and  discussion  in  a  solemn  council  at  which  the 
pipe  was  smoked  by  all  present.  The  remarkable  similarity  in  smoking  cus- 
toms throughout  the  continent  proves  the  great  antiquity  of  the  practice."  It 
was  used  much  like  incense,  and  was  offered  to  idols  by  women  as  well  as 
men;  and  this  practice  was  also  observed  as  a  compliment  to  distinguished 
visitors.  "In  religious  ceremonies  in  general  the  priest  usually  blows  the  smoke 
over  the  altar  to  the  world-quarters."  Sometimes  the  decoration  of  pipes  and 
their  stems  has  great  ceremonial  and  ethnic  significance.  "Every  individual 
engaged  in  war,  hunting,  fishing,  or  husbandry,  and  every  clan  and  phratry 
made  supplication  to  the  gods  by  means  of  smoke,  which  was  believed  to  bring 
good  and  arrest  evil,  to  give  protection  from  enemies,  to  bring  game  or  fish, 
allay  storms,  and  protect  one  while  journeying."  —  JOSEPH  D.  McGuiRE,  in 
Handbook  Amer.  Indians. 


362  LA  POTHERIE  [Vol. 

Cleanse  thy  mat  from  this  filth,  which  will  infect  our 
land."  Their  fright  had  driven  them  so  beside  them- 
selves, that  they  believed  that  the  Spirit  was  going  to 
engulf  them  in  ruin.  Onkimaouassam  himself  no  longer 
knew  where  he  was.  He  was  subdued,  and  no  longer 
dared  appear  before  Metaminens-who  was  delighted 
at  this  fear,  because  he  well  knew  that  it  was  the  certain 
means  for  his  obtaining  that  slave  quickly,  without  the 
aid  of  any  one  whatever. 

Onkimaouassam  went  to  the  chief  of  the  Red  Earth, 
and  asked  him  to  take  the  girl  from  him,  saying,  "I  do 
not  dare  to  go  before  Metaminens ;  here  is  the  Sauteur 
girl ;  take  her."  The  other  answered  him,  "It  is  for  thee 
to  give  her  up,  in  order  that  he  may  think  that  the  offer 
comes  from  thee,  and  so  not  bear  thee  so  much  ill-will." 
Meanwhile  the  rain  fell  without  ceasing;  they  entered 
the  cabin  of  Perrot  with  the  girl,  entreating  him  to 
check  this  scourge  which  menaced  them,  and  to  prevent 
the  Sauteurs  and  their  allies  from  making  war  on  them 
any  longer.  He  returned  them  thanks  by  a  present  of 
tobacco  and  a  kettle,  at  the  time  when  he  saw  that  very 
soon  the  rain  was  going  to  stop -telling  them  that  this 
kettle  would  serve  them  for  a  roof  to  shelter  them  from 
the  rain,  and  that  they  should  smoke  their  pipes  in  peace, 
without  fearing  that  the  Spirit  would  punish  them.  Per- 
rot, not  considering  himself  a  sufficiently  good  prophet 
to  make  the  rain  cease,  rightly  judged  that  if  he  re- 
mained much  longer  with  his  prisoner  the  aspect  of  af- 
fairs might  change.  He  took  leave  of  them,  notwith- 
standing the  bad  weather,  promising  them  that  it  would 
clear  up  before  he  arrived  at  the  bay.  After  having  sent 
the  Sauteur  his  daughter,  he  went  back  across  the  coun- 
try, in  order  to  deter  the  people  of  that  tribe  from  at- 
tacking the  Outagamis  in  case  they  had  that  intention. 


one]  SAVAGE  ALLIES  OF  NEW  FRANCE  363 

He  informed  them  that  he  had  taken  the  girl  out  of  the 
kettle  of  the  Renards,  having  delivered  up  his  own  body 
to  their  rage;  that  he  was  going  to  live  among  the  Re- 
nards in  order  to  assure  them  that  the  former  tribe 
should  not  make  any  move  [against  them]  ;  that  he  took 
care,  therefore,  not  to  act  heedlessly;  and  that  if  people 
were  indiscreet  enough  to  try  to  exasperate  the  minds  of 
the  Renards,  they  would  break  his  head.  He  told  the 
Sauteur  that,  if  he  were  slain  by  them,  he  might  expect 
that  the  French  would  avenge  Perrot's  death  on  himself 
and  on  his  tribe;  and  he  gave  him  twelve  brasses  of  to- 
bacco, that  he  might  present  it  to  his  chiefs  [at  home]. 
The  chiefs  at  the  bay  were  not  a  little  surprised  at  the 
success  obtained  by  the  Frenchman ;  and  they  declared 
that  one  needed  to  be  a  spirit,  like  him,  to  obtain  what 
all  the  peoples  of  the  bay  had  not  been  able  to  accom- 
plish with  all  their  presents. 

The  curiosity  of  our  Frenchmen  whom  Monsieur  de 
la  Barre  had  sent  out  was  greatly  excited  by  all  the  con- 
versations which  the  savages  held  with  them.  The  only 
talk  at  the  bay  was  of  new  tribes,  who  were  unknown  to 
us.  Some  said  that  they  had  been  in  a  country  which 
lay  between  the  south  and  the  west;  and  others  were 
arriving  from  the  latter  direction,  where  they  had  seen 
beautiful  lands,  and  from  which  they  had  brought 
stones,  blue  and  green,  resembling  the  turquoise,235 
which  they  wore  fastened  in  their  noses  and  ears.  There 
were  some  of  them  who  had  seen  horses,  and  men  re- 

235  "Stones  of  greenish  hue  were  highly  valued  by  the  American  aborigines, 
and  this  was  due,  apparently,  to  the  association  of  certain  religious  notions 
with  the  color."  Turquoise  is  found  in  many  localities  in  the  southwestern 
states,  and  was  mined  by  the  natives  in  pre-Spanish  times  in  New  Mexico  and 
Ari/ona.  "The  turquoise  is  highly  prized  by  the  present  tribes  of  the  arid 
region,  and  is  ground  into  beads  and  pendants,  which  are  pierced  by  the  aid 
of  primitive  drills;  and  is  made  into  settings  for  mosaic  work." 

—  W.  H.  HOLMES,  in  Handbook  Amer.  Indians. 


364  LA  POTHERIE  [Vol. 

sembling  the  French;  it  must  be  that  these  were  the 
Spaniards  of  New  Mexico.  Still  others  said  that  they 
had  traded  hatchets  with  persons  who,  they  said,  were 
in  a  house  that  walked  upon  the  water,  at  the  mouth  of 
the  river  of  the  Assiniboiiels,236  which  is  at  the  Northern 
Sea  of  the  west.  The  river  of  the  Assiniboiiels  flows 
northward  into  the  Bay  of  Husson  [i.e.,  Hudson]  ;  it  is 
near  Fort  Nelson. 

All  these  reports  aroused  [the  desire]  to  attempt  some 
discovery  of  importance.  The  Frenchmen  therefore  set 
out  from  the  Bay  of  Puans  with  some  savages  who  had 
accompanied  Islinois  warriors  in  the  west,  where  they 
had  been  making  raids.  At  their  arrival  opposite  the 
Miamis  and  Maskoutechs,  they  met  fifty  Sokokis 237 
and  Loups,  from  those  who  had  been  with  Monsieur  de 

_^_^^^_^____ 

236  The  Assiniboin  (Assinipoualaks,  etc.)   are  "a  large  Siouan  tribe,  origi- 
nally constituting  a  part  of  the  Yanktonai,"  from  whom  they  appear  to  have 
separated  early  in  the  seventeenth  century,  and  probably  in  the  region  about 
the  headwaters  of  the  Mississippi,  whence  they  moved  northward  and  joined 
the  Cree.     As  early  as  1670  they  were  located  about  Lake  Winnipeg,  and  a 
century  later  they  were  scattered  along  the  Saskatchewan  and  Assiniboin  Rivers. 
Up  to  1836  they  numbered  from  1,000  to  1,200  lodges,  trading  on  the  Missouri 
River,  when  the  smallpox  reduced  them  to  less  than  400  lodges,  and  in  1856 
there  were  only  250  lodges.    They  now  number  some  2,500,  of  whom  somewhat 
less  than  half  are  on  reservations  in  Montana;  the  rest  are  in  Canadian  terri- 
tory.   They  have  always  been  nomadic  in  their  mode  of  life,  and  usually  at 
enmity  with  other  tribes  —  always   warring  with   the  Dakota,   until   brought 
under  control  of  the  whites.  -  JAMES  MOONEY  and  CYRUS  THOMAS,  in  Handbook 
Amer.  Indians. 

237  The   Sokoki  were   a   tribe   connected  with   the  Abnaki,   and   probably 
a  part  of  the  confederacy;  authorities  differ  somewhat,  but  the  best  evidence 
seems  to  place  them  in  the  Abnaki  group.     They  were  found  by  Champlain  in 
1604  at  the  mouth  of  Saco  River.     After  King  Philip's  War  (1675)  part  of  the 
Sokoki  fled  to  the  Hudson  River;  and  in  1725  the  rest  of  the  tribe  retired  to 
St.  Francis,   Canada,  with   some   of  their   allied  tribes.  —  JAMES   MOONEY,  in 
Handbook  Amer.  Indians. 

"Loups"  was  the  French  translation  of  "Mahican"  (both  meaning  "wolf"), 
the  name  of  an  Algonquian  tribe  closely  connected  with  the  Delawares;  they 
dwelt  on  both  sides  of  the  upper  Hudson  River,  and  eastward  into  Massachu- 
setts —  in  which  locality  those  converted  to  the  Christian  faith  were  known  as 
Stockbridges,  their  descendants  now  living  in  Wisconsin.  With  this  exception, 
the  Mahican  have  lost  their  tribal  identity.  —  ED. 


one]  SAVAGE  ALLIES  OF  NEW  FRANCE  365 

la  Salle  in  his  voyage  of  discovery -who,  not  daring  to 
remain  on  the  war-path  of  the  Islinois,  had  retired  to  the 
bay,  in  order  to  hunt  beavers  there.  The  great  chief  of 
the  Miamis,  when  he  knew  that  Perrot  was  only  three- 
quarters  of  a  league  from  his  village,  came  to  meet  him, 
in  order  to  invite  him  to  rest  in  his  cabin.  This  chief 
told  Perrot,  in  the  midst  of  a  feast  which  he  made  for 
him,  that  his  tribe  desired  to  settle  near  the  Frenchman's 
fire,  and  begged  him  to  point  out  to  them  its  location. 
Perrot  told  him  that  he  was  going  to  establish  himself  on 
the  upper  Missisipi,  this  side  of  the  Nadouaissious, 
where  he  would  serve  as  a  barrier  to  them,  because  he 
knew  that  they  had  hostilities  with  that  people.  He 
made  presents  to  the  Miamis,  the  Maskoutechs,  and  the 
Kikabouks,  of  twelve  brasses  of  tobacco,  and  gave  them 
some  kettles.  By  this  present  he  informed  them  that 
they  could  feel  sure  that  those  peoples  would  not  com- 
mit any  act  of  hostility,  but  that  they  must  be  cautious 
hereafter  about  raising  the  club  against  them ;  that  they 
ought  to  fasten  their  hatchets  to  the  sun,  because,  if  they 
made  the  least  hostile  attack  on  the  others,  the  Nadouais- 
sious would  unquestionably  believe  that  the  Miamis  had 
settled  so  near  to  them  only  to  render  easy  to  their  ene- 
mies the  means  of  ruining  and  destroying  them ;  that,  as 
for  the  rest,  if  any  of  the  Miamis  wished  to  come  to 
light  their  fire  near  him,  he  would  always  receive  them 
with  great  pleasure.  In  presenting  to  them  the  two  ket- 
tles, he  told  them  that  Onontio  had  abandoned  the  Isli- 
nois to  the  Iroquois,  who  would  pass  by  way  of  Chiga- 
gon;  and  that,  if  the  Miamis  went  hunting,  they  should 
do  so  along  the  Missisipi  farther  down,  in  order  to  avoid 
falling  into  the  hands  of  the  Iroquois. 

These  Frenchmen  again  embarked  with  the  Sokokis, 
and,  having  arrived  at  the  portage  which  must  be  made 


366  LA  POTHERIE  [Vol. 

in  order  to  enter  a  river  that  falls  into  the  Missisipi,  they 
met  thirteen  Hurons  who,  knowing  their  intention  of 
making  an  establishment  in  the  Nadouaissious  country, 
undertook  to  thwart  it  and  to  fight  with  them,  so  as  to 
deprive  the  French  of  the  liberty  to  trade,  and  prevent 
them  from  furnishing  [fire]  arms  and  other  munitions  to 
the  Nadouaissious.  The  Hurons  tried  to  get  ahead  of 
them  in  this  voyage,  but  were  entirely  prevented  from 
doing  so,  and  they  would  have  fared  ill  if  the  Sokokis 
had  not  appeased  the  resentment  of  the  French.  The 
latter  continued  their  route  until  they  reached  the  river, 
and  there  they  took  measures  for  endeavoring  to  dis- 
cover some  [new]  tribes.  This  was  an  undertaking  of 
considerable  difficulty,  because  in  that  region  beyond 
the  Missisipi  there  are  plains  of  vast  extent,  entirely  un- 
inhabited, in  which  only  wild  animals  are  found.  It  was 
agreed  that  the  Puans  should  make  the  first  discovery; 
they  promised  that  the  French  should  have  word  from 
them  within  forty  days,  and  that,  as  soon  as  the  latter 
perceived  great  fires  on  those  plains  they  might  be  as- 
sured that  a  tribe  had  been  found ;  and  this  signal  was  to 
be  used  by  both  parties.  It  is  the  custom  of  the  peoples 
who  inhabit  this  continent  that,  when  they  go  hunting 
in  spring  and  autumn,  they  light  fires  on  those  prairies, 
so  that  they  can  ascertain  each  other's  location.  The 
fire  becomes  so  strong,  especially  when  the  wind  rises, 
and  when  the  nights  are  dark,  that  it  is  visible  forty 
leagues  away.  Those  plains  abound  with  an  infinite 
number  of  cattle,  which  are  much  larger  than  those  of 
Europe,  and  are  commonly  called  "Islinois  cattle ;"  their 
hair  is  quite  curly,  and  finer  than  silk,  and  hats  have 
been  made  from  it  in  France  which  are  as  handsome  as 
those  of  beaver.238  When  the  savages  wish  to  take  many 

238  Another  reference  to  the  buffalo.     In  the  Jesuit  Relations  are  several  in- 
teresting mentions  of  this  animal's  wool  or  hair.     Marest  wrote  from  Kaskaskia 


one]  SAVAGE  ALLIES  OF  NEW  FRANCE  367 

of  these  animals  they  shut  them  in  with  a  ring  of  their 
fires,  which  burn  the  trees,  and  from  which  the  animals 
cannot  escape.  While  the  Puans  crossed  those  lands, 
taking  their  course  toward  the  west  and  southwest,  the 
French  ascended  the  river  in  canoes,  toward  the  west; 
the  latter  found  a  place  where  there  was  timber,  which 
served  them  for  building  a  fort,  and  they  took  up  their 
quarters  at  the  foot  of  a  mountain,  behind  which  was  a 
great  prairie,  abounding  in  wild  beasts.  At  the  end  of 
thirty  days  they  descried  fires,  which  were  far  away;  and 
they  also  lighted  fires,  [by  which]  the  Puans  knew  that 
the  French  had  established  their  post. 

About  eleven  days  after  this  signal,  some  deputies 
came  in  behalf  of  the  Ayoes,289  who  gave  notice  that  [the 

in  1712  (vol.  Ixvi,  231)  that  the  Illinois  women  made  with  it  leggings,  girdles, 
and  bags;  and  he  extols  its  fineness.  Cords  or  ropes  were  also  made  of  it 
(vol.  Ixviii,  133).  Joliet  told  Dablon  that  from  this  wool  could  be  made  cloth, 
"much  finer  than  most  of  that  which  we  bring  from  France"  (vol.  Iviii,  107). 

-En. 

239  The  Ayoes  live  at  a  considerable  distance  beyond  the  Missisipi,  toward 
the  forty-third  degree  of  latitude. -LA  POTHERIE. 

The  Iowa  are  one  of  the  southwestern  Siouan  tribes,  of  the  Chiwere  group 
(see  note  195),  and  of  Winnebago  origin  (see  note  199).  "Iowa  chiefs  in- 
formed Dorsey  in  1883  that  their  people  and  the  Oto,  Missouri,  Omaha,  and 
Ponca  'once  formed  part  of  the  Winnebago  nation ;' "  and  the  traditions  of  those 
tribes  relate  that  at  an  early  period  they  all  came  with  the  Winnebago  from 
their  common  home  north  of  the  great  lakes  — the  Winnebago  stopping  on  the 
shore  of  Lake  Michigan,  attracted  by  the  abundance  of  fish,  while  the  others 
continued  southwestward  to  the  Mississippi  River.  Here  the  Iowa  separated 
from  the  main  group,  and  received  their  name  of  Pahoja  ("Gray  Snow")  ;  and 
near  the  mouth  of  Rock  River  seem  to  have  halted  for  a  time.  Thence  they 
moved,  successively,  up  the  Mississippi  through  Iowa  to  southwestern  Min- 
nesota; through  Nebraska,  Iowa,  Missouri;  and  thence  to  Missouri  River, 
opposite  Fort  Leavenworth,  where  they  were  living  in  1848.  In  1824  they 
ceded  all  their  lands  in  Missouri,  and  in  1836  were  assigned  a  reservation  in 
northeastern  Kansas;  thence  a  part  of  the  tribe  moved  later  to  another  tract 
in  Central  Oklahoma,  which  by  agreement  in  1890  was  allotted  to  them  in 
severally.  Their  numbers  have  varied  greatly  at  different  times;  in  1760  they 
were  estimated  at  1,100  souls,  and  in  1804  at  800  (a  smallpox  epidemic  having 
ravaged  the  tribe  the  year  before)  ;  in  1829,  at  1,000,  and  in  1843  at  470.  In 
1905  the  number  in  Kansas  was  225,  and  in  Oklahoma  89.  The  Iowa  appear  to 
have  been  cultivators  of  the  soil  at  an  early  date,  and  had  a  reputation  for  great 


368  LA  POTHERIE  [Vol. 

people  of]  their  village  were  approaching,  with  the  in- 
tention of  settling  near  the  French.  The  interview  with 
these  newcomers  was  held  in  so  peculiar  a  manner  that 
it  furnished  cause  for  laughter.  They  approached  the 
Frenchman  [i.e.,  Perrot],  weeping  hot  tears,  which  they 
let  fall  into  their  hands  along  with  saliva,  and  with  other 
filth  which  issued  from  their  noses,  with  which  they 
rubbed  the  heads,  faces,  and  garments  of  the  French; 
all  these  caresses  made  their  stomachs  revolt.  On  the 
part  of  those  savages  there  were  only  shouts  and  yells, 
which  were  quieted  by  giving  them  some  knives  and 
awls.  At  last,  after  having  made  a  great  commotion,  in 
order  to  make  themselves  understood -which  they  could 
not  do,  not  having  any  interpreter  -  they  went  back  [to 
their  people].  Four  others  of  their  men  came,  at  the 
end  of  a  few  days,  of  whom  there  was  one  who  spoke 
Islinois ;  this  man  said  that  their  village  was  nine  leagues 
distant,  on  the  bank  of  the  river,  and  the  French  went 
there  to  find  them.  At  their  arrival  the  women  fled; 
some  gained  the  hills,  and  others  rushed  into  the  woods 
which  extended  along  the  river,  weeping,  and  raising 
their  hands  toward  the  sun.  Twenty  prominent  men 
presented  the  calumet  to  Perrot,  and  carried  him  upon 
a  buffalo-skin  into  the  cabin  of  the  chief,  who  walked  at 
the  head  of  this  procession.  When  they  had  taken  their 
places  on  the  mat,  this  chief  began  to  weep  over  Perrot's 
head,  bathing  it  with  his  tears,  and  with  moisture  that 
dripped  from  his  mouth  and  nose ;  and  those  who  carried 
the  guest  did  the  same  to  him.  These  tears  ended,  the 
calumet  was  again  presented  to  him;  and  the  chief 
caused  a  great  earthen  pot,  which  was  filled  with  tongues 
of  buffaloes,  to  be  placed  over  the  fire.  These  were 

industry;  also  they  hunted  the  buffalo,  and  made  and  sold  the  "redstone" 
(catlinite)  pipes.  —  J.  O.  DORSET  and  CYRUS  THOMAS,  in  Handbook  Amer. 
Indians. 


one]  SAVAGE  ALLIES  OF  NEW  FRANCE  369 

taken  out  as  soon  as  they  began  to  boil,  and  were  cut 
into  small  pieces,  of  which  the  chief  took  one  and 
placed  it  in  his  guest's  mouth ;  Perrot  tried  to  take  one 
for  himself,  but  the  chief  refused  until  he  had  given  it 
to  him,  for  it  is  their  custom  to  place  the  morsels  in  the 
guest's  mouth,  when  he  is  a  captain,  until  the  third  time, 
before  they  offer  the  dish.  He  could  not  forbear  spit- 
ting out  this  morsel,  which  was  still  all  bloody  (those 
same  tongues  were  cooked  that  night  in  an  iron  pot) ; 
immediately  some  men,  in  great  surprise,  took  their 
calumet,  and  perfumed  them  with  tobacco-smoke.  Never 
in  the  world  were  seen  greater  weepers  than  those  peo- 
ples ;  their  approach  is  accompanied  with  tears,  and  their 
adieu  is  the  same.  They  have  a  very  artless  manner, 
also  broad  chests  and  deep  voices.  They  are  extremely 
courageous  and  good-hearted.  They  often  kill  cattle 
and  deer  while  running  after  them.  They  are  howlers; 
they  eat  meat  raw,  or  only  warm  it  over  the  fire.  They 
are  never  satiated,  for  when  they  have  any  food  they  eat 
night  and  day;  but  when  they  have  none  they  fast  very 
tranquilly.  They  are  very  hospitable,  and  are  never 
more  delighted  than  when  they  are  entertaining  stran- 
gers. 

Their  eagerness  to  obtain  French  merchandise  in- 
duced them  to  go  away  to  hunt  beaver  during  the  winter; 
and  for  this  purpose  they  penetrated  far  inland.  After 
they  had  ended  their  hunt  forty  Ayoes  came  to  trade  at 
the  French  fort;  and  Perrot  returned  with  them  to  their 
village,  where  he  was  hospitably  received.  The  chief 
asked  him  if  he  were  willing  to  accept  the  calumet, 
which  they  wished  to  sing  for  him ;  to  this  he  consented. 
This  is  an  honor  which  is  granted  only  to  those  whom 
they  regard  as  great  captains.*  He  sat  down  on  a  hand- 

•  For  description  of  the  calumet,  see  footnote  139. 


370  LA  POTHERIE  [Vol. 

some  buffalo-skin,  and  three  Ayoes  stood  behind  him 
who  held  his  body;  meanwhile  other  persons  sang,  hold- 
ing calumets  in  their  hands,  and  keeping  these  in  mo- 
tion to  the  cadence  of  their  songs.  The  man  who  held 
Perrot  in  his  arms  also  performed  in  the  same  manner, 
and  they  spent  a  great  part  of  the  night  in  singing  the 
calumet.  They  also  told  him  that  they  were  going  to 
pass  the  rest  of  the  winter  in  hunting  beaver,  hoping  to 
go  in  the  spring  to  visit  him  at  his  fort;  and  at  the  same 
time  they  chose  him,  by  the  calumet  which  they  left 
with  him,  for  the  chief  of  all  the  tribe.  The  Frenchmen 
returned  to  their  fort,  where  they  found  a  Maskoutech 
and  a  Kikabouc,  who  informed  them  that  the  people  of 
their  villages  had  followed  them ;  and  that  they  were  at 
a  place  eighteen  leagues  above  there,  on  the  bank  of  the 
river.  They  reported  that  some  Frenchmen  had  invited 
the  Miamis  to  settle  at  Chigagon,  to  which  place  they 
had  gone  despite  the  warning  that  had  been  given  them, 
that  the  Iroquois  were  to  go  thither  in  order  to  descend 
thence  against  the  Islinois;  but  that,  as  for  their  people, 
they  had  considered  it  more  expedient  to  come  to  look 
for  Perrot  and  his  menx  entreating  the  Frenchmen  to 
direct  them  in  what  place  they  should  light  their  fires. 
Two  days  later,  Perrot  set  out  with  them,  and  the  people 
were  full  of  joy  at  seeing  him ;  he  lodged  at  the  house  of 
Kikirinous,  the  chief  of  the  Maskoutechs,  who  feasted 
him  on  a  large  bear  which  the  chief  had  caused  to  be 
boiled  whole.  This  chief  asked  from  him  the  possession 
of  a  river  which  watered  a  beautiful  region  that  lay  not 
far  from  the  place  where  they  were;  and  at  the  same 
time  he  asked  for  protection  for  all  the  families  of  their 
tribes,  and  that  the  Nadoiiaissioux  might  be  kept  from 
annoying  them.  [He  said  that]  they  were  making  a 
peace  with  the  latter,  the  petitioner  himself  being  its 


one]  SAVAGE  ALLIES  OF  NEW  FRANCE  371 

mediator;  and  assured  Perrot  that  he  would  bring 
hither  a  large  village  of  Islinois,  whose  promise  he  had 
obtained.  Perrot  hardly  dared  to  rely  upon  their  prom- 
ise, because  he  knew  that  most  of  them  were  man-eaters, 
who  loved  the  flesh  of  men  better  than  that  of  animals.240 
He  told  them  that  he  did  not  like  to  have  those  people 
for  neighbors ;  that  he  was  sure  that  they  were  asking  to 
settle  near  him  with  the  intention  of  making  some  raids 
on  the  Ayoes,  when  the  latter  were  least  expecting  it; 
and  that  he  could  not,  moreover,  make  up  his  mind  to 
hinder  the  Nadoiiaissioux  from  annoying  his  present 
visitors.  They  told  him  that  they  were  surprised  that 
he  should  doubt  his  own  children;  that  he  was  their 
father,  and  the  Ayoe's  their  younger  brothers,  and  there- 
fore the  latter  could  not  strike  them  without  striking 
him  also,  since  he  laid  them  in  his  bosom ;  and  that  they 
had  sucked  the  same  milk  which  they  desired  again  to 
suck.  They  entreated  him  to  give  them  in  return  some 
[fire]  arms  and  munitions.  The  Frenchman,  having  no 
answer  to  give  them,  had  them  smoke  in  his  calumet, 
and  told  them  that  this  was  his  breast  which  he  had  al- 

240  Cannibalism  (a  word  derived  from  Carib  through  Spanish  corruption)  has 
been  practiced  in  one  form  or  another  among  probably  all  peoples  at  some 
period  of  their  tribal  life;  and  we  have  historical  records  of  its  occurrence 
among  many  of  the  tribes  north  of  Mexico  —  whether  as  a  matter  of  ceremony, 
of  hunger,  or  even  of  taste.  Among  the  tribes  who  thus  practiced  it  were :  the 
Algonkin,  Iroquois,  Assiniboin,  Cree,  Foxes,  Miami,  Ottawa,  Chippewa,  Illi- 
nois, Kickapoo,  Sioux,  and  Winnebago;  the  Mohawk  and  some  of  the  southern 
tribes  were  known  to  their  neighbors  as  "man-eaters."  Cannibalism  was  some- 
rimes  accidental,  from  necessity  as  a  result  of  famine ;  "the  second  and  prevalent 
form  of  cannibalism  was  a  part  of  war  custom  and  was  based  principally  on 
the  belief  that  bravery  and  other  desirable  qualities  of  an  enemy  would  pass, 
through  actual  ingestion  of  a  part  of  his  body,  into  that  of  the  consumer.  Such 
qualities  were  supposed  to  have  their  special  seat  in  the  heart,  hence  this  organ 
was  chiefly  sought;"  it  belonged  usually  to  the  warriors.  "The  idea  of  eating 
any  other  human  being  than  a  brave  enemy  was  to  most  Indians  repul- 
sive. .  .  Among  the  Iroquois,  according  to  one  of  the  Jesuit  fathers,  the 
eating  of  captives  was  considered  a  religious  duty."  — A.  HRDLICKA,  in  Hand- 
book Amer.  Indians. 


372  LA  POTHERIE 


ways  presented  to  them  to  give  them  nourishment;  that 
he  was  going  soon  to  give  suck  to  the  Nadoiiaissioux; 
and  that  the  latter  had  only  to  come  and  carry  them 
away,  if  they  so  desired,  at  the  very  time  when  these 
people  might  swear  to  destroy  them.  He  promised  to 
restrain  the  Nadoiiaissioux  if  the  latter  came  in  war 
against  them,  and  that  if  they  did  not  obey  his  orders  he 
would  declare  himself  their  enemy,  provided  that  these 
people  did  not  betray  him.  They  went  hunting  the  rest 
of  the  winter -for  large  game  rather  than  for  beaver,  in 
order  to  provide  food  for  their  women  and  children. 

Some  Frenchmen  went  to  notify  the  Nadoiiaissioux 
not  to  make  any  mistakes  in  their  pursuit  of  game  when 
they  should  encounter  some  Sokokis  who  were  hunting 
beaver  along  the  river.  They  found  on  the  ice  twenty- 
four  canoes  of  Nadoiiaissioux,  delighted  to  see  these 
Frenchmen;  and  the  latter  returned  to  their  village  to 
carry  this  news. 


88  84 


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